


...and you are ours

by ladyluck (UnderdogAngel), QueerCannibal



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien/Human Relationships, Dating, F/M, How to Train Your Symbiote to Act in a Relationship, Human/Monster Romance, M/M, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Post-Venom (Movie 2018), Self-Indulgent, Slow Build, Venom is a jealous shit who doesn't understand dating, and occasionally eats garbage because he's having an Emotion, other tags to be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2019-09-05 23:05:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 95,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16820260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderdogAngel/pseuds/ladyluck, https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueerCannibal/pseuds/QueerCannibal
Summary: Eddie Brock is still adjusting to life bonded with Venom, and Venom is still adjusting to cohabiting in a human body. Just as they thought they were settling into their new life together, a chance meeting might complicate the "we" they were becoming. After all, Venom can give Eddie everything he needs; why does another human even need to be in the picture?[basically for self-indulgent fun. updated around my and my co-writer's work schedules and writing progress. still very much being written, and will likely be long because we're both kind of long-winded, oops! depictions of violence are mainly Venom eating people. M rating for later chapters.]





	1. Close Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first thing I've posted in a VERY long time--to any writing site. but Venom has been one of my favorite characters since I was a kid, and my fiancé and I loved Venom (2018) so much, so have been writing this ever since. we're posting it mainly so our friends can read it, but we're thrilled if others like it too! enjoy!
> 
> (also, note for this chapter for reassurance: there is an attempted thing, but nothing happens. it is all attempted, which is why I hesitate to put a full trigger warning on the chapter.)

Eddie dropped the postcard onto the counter, the thick paper landing on the cushion of thick envelopes full of bills and ads below it.

The now-ever-present voice in his head was surprisingly quiet, though it did venture a single question:  _ “Eddie?” _

As if that were his cue, Eddie walked away from the kitchen counter, grabbed a jacket, and left the apartment—all but slamming the door behind him. He closed his eyes tight for a long moment as he stepped out into the salty night air, but all he could see was that damn cursive script, as if it had been seared into the inside of his eyelids:  _ Save the Date _ . And that damn happy picture of them at the beach, of  _ her _ sitting on that rock with a big diamond on her finger. Happy, to be sure, but...happy with someone else.

He should never have deluded himself into thinking there was even a chance of them going back to the way things had been. But after they’d reconciled, after all they’d been through together, he  _ had _ dared to hope. Stupid.

_ “You’re troubled.” _

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m a fuckin’ idiot,” he mumbled back.

_ “...Maybe if we tried—” _

“No!” Eddie snapped. “No, there is nothing else we can ‘try’! There’s nothing else we can do.” He gave a huff, ignoring the strange look a couple gave him as they passed. “Annie’s marrying Dan. That’s it. Enough trying. Enough— Enough. It’s done.”

He wanted to wonder why she’d sent him the postcard in the first place. Sure, they were on speaking terms, and were even back to being friends, but… Accepting that he wasn’t going to be with her again was one thing. Being invited to watch her get married to someone else was another thing entirely. But then maybe she was just trying to be nice, figuring he’d turn her down because of their shared history. And she’d smile politely, say how sorry she was to hear he couldn’t make it...

He stopped walking, letting out a quiet groan as he pressed his hands to his face.

_ “Hey, I know what would cheer you up.” _

Eddie sighed, letting his hands drop to his sides again. “Eating a bad guy would  _ not _ make me feel better.”

_ “Liar. It has every time before.” _

“No, it makes _ you _ feel better.”

_ “What’s the difference?” _

“ _ You _ like to eat people!  _ I _ don’t!”

_ “You’ll come around,”  _ Venom insisted as Eddie sighed again.  _ “C’mon, let’s go look for someone. I’m sure we could come across at least one person that suits your criteria for ‘bad’. Besides, it would take your mind off of...well, her.” _

Eddie shifted his weight, thinking as he looked around the all but deserted sidewalk. “Alright, fine. Not like it’ll take long around here.”

He could feel Venom grinning as the symbiote showed itself, inky black tendrils covering his body from head to toe. He still hadn’t quite gotten used to feeling like he was sitting in the backseat of his own body, watching something else move his limbs and mouth, but the power of it all… It was enough to settle into the backseat and enjoy the ride.

Several blocks away, a young woman was leaving a small café. She offered a wave to the woman she’d been sitting with, and promised to see her again soon. The woman looked up towards the cloudy sky and tugged her jacket a little tighter around herself. She wondered for a moment if she should hail a cab. Nah, it wasn’t too far to walk. If she just walked fast, she’d be fine. That’s always what she told herself. So far, it had worked.

But everyone’s luck had to run out someday.

San Francisco wasn't the safest of cities on the West Coast. There were a lot of positive aspects to the city, at least on the surface level. But underneath? Underneath was a whole other story. The rampant homelessness was a major problem—a problem that represented a double-edged sword. The ill and unlucky ended up on the street, where they couldn't be given the help they needed. As such, they went largely untreated. And then illegal drugs were substituted for almost every kind of treatment, like some cure-all. Of course, that just lead to a whole slew of other problems.

In short, San Francisco definitely had its...seedy side.

She’d lived there most of her life, and knew well that being alone at night wasn’t exactly the brightest thing to do. Still, she knew all she had to do was keep her head down and not make eye contact. Just keep walking, keep your head down, and no one will bother you. It was their nighttime refrain, and it oftentimes worked. But...

She suddenly felt a hand grab her wrist, and her arm was wrenched behind her before she could even try to question who it was. A head leaned closer to hers, and a deep voice whispered in her ear, “Into the alley. Now. And don’t even think about screaming.”

Now she felt something pressed against her back. Something metal. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she started to shake in the man’s grip.

“Now!” he snapped, and pressed the metal harder against her back.

She swallowed hard. “Okay, okay,” she gasped. At a loss for the moment as to what else to do, she let him push her towards the nearby alley.

Their search for "bad guys" was, more often than not, incidental rather than a focused hunt. Since the Life Foundation incident, there was less focused work to be done—not necessarily a bad thing. Venom rather liked just stumbling upon bad guys. It was fun. They liked fun. They liked the way surprise and fright shone in the bad guys’ eyes before they devoured them. It thrilled them in a pleasant way—a way Venom knew that Eddie liked. Even when he denied it, Venom knew. Eddie couldn't keep any secrets anymore.

That pleasant stumbling upon such a bad guy seemed to be in the cards for them that night when they heard a voice not far away—and it sounded like it was in trouble.

The woman, now facing the back wall of the alley, spoke again after another hard swallow. It was shaky, but at least it was there. “L-Listen, if you’re after my money, just take it, okay? A-And I promise not to tell anyone about this. I promise.”

He wrenched her arm harder behind her back, and a cry of pain burst out of her mouth. “It ain’t your money I’m after.”

Her breaths began to shorten, her mind racing to the worst, but hoping against hope for a better response when she said, “I-I don’t have a car for you to steal or anything...”

Her heart dropped into her stomach when he pressed against her, forcing her against the wall. The brick scraped along her cheek like the chill that shot down her spine when he replied, “Wrong again.”

Breaths coming shorter still, the horrible realization chilling her veins, she shoved away a sob and opened her mouth to scream, “Somebody! Please, anybody, help me—” Her pleas were cut off by a sharp, pained wail, which had followed a chilling crack that traveled up her arm.

“I told you not to scream, bitch.”

She was sobbing now from the sudden pain, unable to hold the tears back any longer. “Please,” she said, voice tight. “Please let me go.”

Her cut-off cry, followed by the short, sharp scream of pain was enough to pique the duo’s interest. When rabbits scream, and all that...

Locating the alley by rooftop wasn't hard, and it was obvious right away that this situation equated the sort of thing they had been looking for.

"Eddie, look, bad guy," Venom said, deep, gravelly voice almost a purr.

_ “Yep, bad guy,”  _ Eddie confirmed.

They jumped off the building—partially because it was the fastest way to the street and their meal, and partially because he loved the way it made their stomach swoop—, and landed with a loud thud and crack of worn asphalt.

Both the woman and the man holding her against the wall froze, startled by the sound and the veritable shock wave coming from it.

Still holding her broken wrist against her back, the man half-turned to look. "What the fu—" He froze again, grip loosening on the woman's arm.

Pressing her lips together against another sob, she took the chance to move her injured arm and cradle it against her chest. She didn't dare turn around just yet—partially inspecting her wrist, and partially trying not to let her imagination run away with whatever the man was looking at that had stunned him so.

Given the fact that it had been several weeks since their last proper meal, Venom wasted no time in playing with their food; he needed that goddamn phenethylamine. Chocolate was a good substitute. Fantastic, even. But, over long periods of time, it just wasn't enough. Not that Venom wasn't grateful; Eddie was very good to them—buying them chocolate. So much chocolate. All the chocolate. But, in the end, nothing could beat the real thing.

The crunch and snap of bones was loud and sharp. Venom’s teeth severed not only the man's skull from his neck, but the entire top portion of his shoulders from the rest of his body. His arms thumped wetly to the ground, one right after the other.

He chewed only three times before swallowing, then stooped over the corpse on the ground to gobble up the rest of him. Eddie had been very explicit about “finishing” everything—at least, when it was possible. Sometimes, they had to chomp and go.

The woman’s eyes widened at the noise not ten feet away from her. What the fuck? Was it some kind of animal? Why did she hear…eating noises?

She was still shaking, trying to take deep breaths as her wide eyed swiveled around her narrow field of vision. Was she going to suffer the same fate as...whatever had just happened behind her? Not that he hadn’t deserved it, the bastard, but...

She took a deep breath, then slowly turned her head to look behind her.

The occasional car passed by the mouth of the alley, too far away to hear her if she were to shout. And between her and freedom was a rather massive, hunched figure.

Venom lifted their head, still chewing. Their white, waspish eyes narrowed slightly at her as he grinned, flashing even more of those long, crooked teeth as they dripped saliva and blood. 

She didn’t consider herself someone with a weak constitution, but, in that moment, looking at...whatever it was before her—with the teeth and blood and the blank but intelligent eyes—there was only one logical thing she could think to do: pass the fuck out. She didn’t even have it in her to scream again; she just dropped like a rock, eyes rolling back in her head and all.

Venom perked a little at that and blinked at her, finishing the last bites without chewing. They stood and licked their jaw of excess blood.  _ "Is she dead?" _ he asked curiously, receding as Eddie demanded control, and sinking back into place behind Eddie's sternum.  _ "Can we eat her?" _

“No, she’s not dead, you ass,” Eddie snapped, moving forward towards the woman. He gingerly pressed his fingers to her neck. “She’s just unconscious.”

_ ”Damn. I was hoping for dessert.” _

“Maybe next time,” Eddie replied dryly. He leaned back a little and looked her over. Besides her wrist, a scrape on her cheekbone, and (he assumed) a nasty bump on the head, she seemed to be alright. Still, he could hardly just leave her here for someone else to find...

He reached forward again, starting to lift her injured arm. The movement must’ve caused her some pain, because she suddenly bolted upright, cried out, and, purely on reflex, slapped Eddie across the face.

It surprised him more than anything else, but he still rocked backwards onto the ground.

“Fuck!” they said in unison, Eddie holding his face and the woman cradling her wrist.

Venom chuckled, incredibly amused by the scene before him. Humans were still so strange, and surprisingly entertaining.

Eddie huffed. “What the hell?”

The woman gave a sharp sigh of her own. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m a little fucking stressed right now! I was just almost—! I-I just saw—!” She blinked at Eddie, then at the otherwise empty alley, then back at him. “Who’re you?”

_ "Introduce us," _ Venom rumbled in Eddie's head, but he ignored him.

"My name’s Eddie. I'm just a guy who saw an unconscious woman in an alley, assumed the worst, and am very glad to be wrong."

_ "You  _ didn’t _ introduce us!" _

The woman looked around the alley again, peering at the faint blood stains on the asphalt a few feet away. “Glad you were wrong too, Eddie.” Then she looked back at him. “I’m Mina. Nice to meet you, current circumstances aside.”

Eddie smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners a bit more than was natural—due in part to the parasite having a tantrum in his head. "Can you stand?" he asked offering his arm.

“I think so,” she replied, but reached for his arm anyway as they started to stand together.

"Take it easy. Easy there,” he said gently, watching her to make sure her eyes weren’t going to roll back again. “You okay? You good? Not gonna pass out again?" He was ready to grab her, if need be.

Venom was basically screaming now, hoping it would draw Eddie’s attention more fully.  _ “MAYBE WE’LL JUST EAT YOUR PANCREAS!” _

Mina gripped his arm probably a little tighter than necessary, but she felt entitled to take it a little easy on herself. “I don’t think so,” she said, steadying a bit. “Thanks.” Her other arm stayed instinctively curled against her stomach, the skin around her wrist beginning to turn black and blue.

She let out a long breath, still holding onto him—just in case. Her lips pressed into a thin line for a moment as she looked around again. “You’d didn’t see any...one come running out of here before you showed up, did you?” She’d almost said “anything” and thought better of it. “I didn’t ever see the guy’s face who did this; he came up behind me and wouldn’t let me turn around.”

Eddie shook his head. "No, no one. Just you."

_ "Liar." _

She gave another sigh. “Even if I  _ had  _ seen him, I’d probably be remembering wrong.” She chuckled. “I was so scared, I think I hallucinated seeing a…” But then what about the blood on the ground? She certainly wasn't hallucinating that. “Never mind.”

He looked at her darkening arm and gave a grimace. "Maybe we should get you to the hospital?"

She grimaced back. “Much as I hate to admit it, I think you’re right. Unless you know someone who can just fix broken bones like that?” she joked, snapping the fingers on her other hand.

_ "Eddie—" _

He smiled and chuckled, shaking his head as they made their way to the mouth of the alley. "Afraid not." 

_ "Eddie, we could do it." _

“Damn,” she said with a chuckle.

_ “Eddie, we could fix it!” _

Yeah, and if they weren’t a match, his leaving her body could hurt her even more, or possibly kill her. Not a great trade-off by any standard, as he was sure Mina would agree.

_ "Eddie. Eddie! EDDIE, STOP IGNORING ME!" _

"Let's get you a cab,” Eddie said, trying a little harder to ignore Venom. “Do you, uh, want me to go with you, or…?" His tone was just a touch awkward; he was a stranger, after all.

She shifted her weight and looked up at him, "Not to sound like an absolute damsel, but if you wouldn't mind coming with me...? I, uh, I really don't like hospitals, and given what just happened, I'd...rather not be alone for a little while." She felt color rushing to her face as she quickly added, "I mean, if you'd rather not, since you don’t know me, I could call someone." Much as she didn’t want to do that either, but she would, if she had to.

"No, it's—"

_ "Eddie I don't like hospitals—" _

"—no problem, at all. At all," he assured as a cab slowed and pulled up along the curb. 

_ “Eddie, nOOOO!” _

Eddie opened the cab door for her. "I don't have anywhere I need to be. Besides, I know a guy at the hospital,” he said, slipping in after her as she settled into her seat.

"Oh?" Mina replied, some of the blush receding from her face. "That...makes me feel a little better, honestly."

She could feel her heartbeat trying a little harder to return to a normal pace. It was just a broken wrist. X-ray, cast, maybe a sling. Nothing invasive, nothing too involved. It would be okay.

Besides which, at least she had someone with her. True, they'd just met, but he seemed decent enough. And "decent" was about the best she felt like asking for, in that moment.

The drive to the hospital was a rather at-ease one, due in part to the lack of traffic. Eddie suggested for her to just keep her arm curled up how she had it, but to maybe keep her elbow out a bit. He ended up offering a hand to help, her elbow resting against his palm.

_ "She smells nice. Doesn't she smell nice, Eddie?" _

_ Hmm. _ Yeah, he supposed she smelled nice. Her perfume was light, but noticeable.

She felt some of the blush that had faded start to come back, as if some part of her brain assumed that, amidst everything, she hadn't noticed that Eddie was attractive. And that his hand was warm against where he was holding her arm. And that he also smelled nice.

Sure as hell wasn't the time to be thinking about those things, but...then again, for all she knew, she could've died back there. So what if she indulged a little? Not like he could hear her thoughts or anything.

_ "I think she likes you, Eddie," _ Venom rumbled at the back of his head.

_ Hmm, shut up, _ he thought back.

_ "But her scent is warmer. I think she likes you." _

_ If you don't shut up, then we won't stop and visit Dan. _

Venom gave a huff, but reluctantly kept any other comments to himself. At least, for the time being.

When they got to the hospital, Mina went back to holding her own arm and letting him lead the way. She tried to keep her hands from shaking as they walked past several closed doors towards a nurses station, where Eddie asked for a Dr. Lewis. Then she tried not to hyper-focus on an empty wheelchair in the corner while they waited for the nurse to send a page.

_ "Eddie, ask Dan if we're still having dinner on Sunday. I want to prove a theory,”  _ Venom said. His voice was notably softer in Eddie’s head, as if the symbiote wasn't technically breaking their agreement. But, now that they were at the hospital, he supposed it was okay.

"Don't worry, Dr. Dan is really, really nice," Eddie assured.

Mina nodded, attempting a small smile. "I really appreciate this, Eddie."

"Yeah, no, it's...it's just the right thing to do,” he said simply. “You have insurance, right? I mean, the hospital could hook you up, if need be. Dr. Dan’s good about that. Probably too good about that, honestly. If he didn't have a good history under his belt, psh, he'd probably have been let go for having a bleeding heart."

She smiled a little wider, the expression a little more genuine, and laughed softly. "Nah, I'm covered, thanks. This Dr. Dan sounds pretty cool, from how you talk about him."

"Eddie been gossiping about me again?"

The pair turned to see a tall brunette in a lab coat smiling at them. "I'm Dr. Lewis," he said to Mina. "You another of Eddie's welfare cases?"

Eddie started to stumble out an answer, but Mina just chuckled and replied, "At the moment, it would seem so. I'm Wilhelmina Bell—Mina for short. I'd shake your hand, but, uh..."

"Oh, ouch, how'd that happen?" Dan winced, and didn't quite touch her arm.

“For now, let’s just say that I’m pretty sure it’s broken,” she replied.

Dan nodded. "Alright. Well, then we're going to get you into x-ray." He lead her down the hall and into the room with the X-ray machine. Eddie shuffled behind, moving as if unsure if he should still be following after her.

"You’ll need to remove any jewelry.” He looked towards Eddie, who was hovering in the doorway. “Eddie, can you help her with that?" he asked as he and a technician started setting up.

"Oh, um, yeah." Eddie turned to her, waiting for direction.

She was suddenly grateful she'd gone without earrings that day. Taking out someone else's earrings was a pain and a half that she'd been through enough times with her little sister. If she didn't have to put someone else through it, so much the better.

"Oh, it's just the necklace—it's big enough to pull over my head—, and the ring on my left hand." Thank god it wasn't on the hand attached to the broken wrist. Her cheeks were tinged pink again, but she assured quietly, "I know it's awkward, but it's okay, really."

He gave a grateful nod, then almost licked his lips, but resisted the urge to moisten the chapped skin. It would’ve come across as more than creepy, and he knew it. He carefully took the necklace chain between his thumbs and index fingers before lifting it over her head. 

"Oh, sorry, snagged on your hair a little."

She chuckled. “It’s okay.”

“Ahh, got it," he said, and set it on the little plastic tray that Dan had provided them. "Now the easy one.” He carefully wiggled the ring off her finger and put it on the tray as well. "There we go." He smiled, flashing crooked teeth for a moment.

She smiled back, her face still warm. “Thanks.” She hadn’t meant it to come out as a whisper, but oh well. He had a nice smile; honestly, it was helping calm some of her nerves.

Dan spoke up then from the doorway. "Alright, Miss, now I want you to sit up there. We're going to drape this heavy ugly thing on you.” He gestured to Eddie. “Eddie, out with me."

"Oh, right."

Mina turned to let the nurse put the cover over her and help her up onto the seat. At least it wasn't an MRI; she might've screamed if they'd asked her to get into one of those monstrosities. She wondered for a minute if she'd rather live with a broken wrist for the rest of her life than get into an MRI, but the machine started up and broke her train of thought.

It was just a series of quick clicks as the machine took snapshots of her arm, which the technician had carefully set onto a bar.

"Okay, Mina, the technician is just going to carefully reposition you. Then we'll take a few more shots, and you'll be good to get off the table," Dan's voice said over the intercom.

"Okay," Mina replied, speaking up since she didn't know where her side of the intercom was. She was glad her voice sounded fairly calm; it'd be pathetic to get worked-up over an x-ray. When she got home, she could freak out and refuse to sleep and maybe eat the entire contents of her fridge. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

"Okay, Mina, all done." Dan released the intercom button again and looked at Eddie. "I'll be asking her too, of course, but what the hell happened?"

Eddie shrugged, shaking his head. "Just found her passed out in an alley. Thought she was dead for a minute there."

_ "Liar." _

"Somebody must've gone after her, but they were gone by the time I got there."

_ “We ate him.” _

Dan gave soft sigh. "Lucky for her, I'd say."

_ “Lucky for all of us,”  _ Venom replied, and it sounded like he was grinning.

The technician stepped back into the room to put things back in order and take the cover off of Mina. Eddie wasn’t far behind, pulling the plastic bin across the counter. He held it out with an awkward little smile. "Why don't we get this stuff back where it belongs, huh?"

She smiled back. “Yeah, thanks.”

He nodded again, and carefully slipped the ring back onto her finger, then pulled the necklace out. He set the bin aside and lifted the chain to carefully slide it over her head.

“Ah, I’m a human being again,” she joked as the necklace rested around her neck.

He chuckled softly. “Glad to be of help.”

God, he was cute. It was almost disgusting.

They both looked up when Dan poked his head in. "This will only take a few minutes, I promise, Mina," he said with a smile. "Then we can see what we’re going to do for you."

“Thanks, Doctor,” she replied, and he nodded and left with the technician.

Mina looked down at her wrist for a moment. The bruising looked so much worse in the fluorescent hospital lights, like someone had gone at it with a lead pipe or something. At least she hadn't broken her hand; she'd go out of her mind waiting for that to heal.

"I know I said it already, but thanks for sticking around." She gave a little smile. "If you hadn't, I'd be stuck here with my brother, and he'd probably be running all over the place trying to tell everyone how to do their jobs, and..." She let out a quiet sigh. "Anyway, thanks, Eddie."

"Controlling type, huh?" Eddie asked, leaning against the counter with his hands in his hoodie pocket. "Yeah, I… I get that." Eddie craved controlling people, though he wasn't entirely consciously aware of it. But, if he thought about it, he would’ve realized that it basically took three other people to keep his shit together—and one of them lived in his fucking head.

"You might say that." Understatement of the year. She shrugged one shoulder. "He’s turned righteous concern into an art form. Thinks he knows best because of his life experience.” She shook her head a little. "Sometimes, I think he'll always just see me as his kid sister, and completely ignore the slight controlling streak that he totally inadvertently fostered in me."

_ "Sounds like an asshole," _ Venom grumbled, making Eddie snort.

He covered it with a cough, hand emerging from his hoodie pocket to cover his mouth, then crossed his arms and nodded, squinting at her a little. "Yeah, yeah, no I… I don't have any— Well, I mean I really don't, uh...." He blinked and then just smiled a little. "I get it."

She chuckled. "Only child?”

He nodded. "Yeah. Only child." Which was probably part of his problem. He was needy. Dysfunctional without direction. But he never thought about that—at least for too long because if he did, he would spiral, and who needed that noise?

“Can't even imagine what that's like. I've got my older brother and younger sister boxing me in." She smirked. "You're now allowed to be scared of my latent 'middle child syndrome', if you should feel so inclined." Talking and joking was keeping her from staring at her wrist again and wanting to burst into tears. Plus it was forcing her to look at his face, and it was a nice face to look at.

He laughed once. "Nah, I'm not scared off that easily," he said with a grin.

"Good to know," she replied, her own grin widening. "I'm not either."

Ohhhh no. This was drifting into flirting territory, and she knew it. Shit. She tried not to let her thoughts show on her face and raised a brow for a moment. "Present circumstances excepted."

He knew she was talking about what had happened earlier, but decided to play into her joking-about-it state of mind. "What, you saying I'm scary?" He gasped in pretend shock and patted himself. "Look at me—I'm a marshmallow." He chuckled. "I couldn't scare anyone if I wanted to."

A full laugh burst out of her mouth. "Perhaps you  _ are  _ a marshmallow, but I think you could be scary if you wanted to be." She gestured at the air around him with her good hand. “There's some potential in there somewhere, I can tell."

_ "...Does she know I'm here?" _

_ No. There's no way. She passed out and didn't see you recede. _

"Ah, I left my scary self back in New York." He laughed, then glanced up when Dan came back into the room. He gave her a reassuring smile before taking a half-step back.

"Alright, here’s your x-rays," he said, sticking the prints up against the light box on the wall. The technician lowered the room’s lights a little as Dan turned the box on. "It looks like you have just a hairline fracture, right there—" He pointed out the spot with his pinky. "—so all you're going to need is a cast for a few weeks, and a sling for a little while. But you're going to be alright," he assured with a smile.

"A miracle you're going to be able to save this sorry excuse for a hand," she joked, smiling at him. "Thanks, Dr. Lewis. If that's the worst you're gonna do to me, I think you're my new favorite doctor."

"Oh, well, I'm honored," he said as he pulled the x-rays down and the technician turned the lights back up. “Casting won't take too long, and then you can go home." He lead her out of x-ray and to the plaster and casting room.

Eddie trailed behind a little more slowly, staying in the doorway while Dan worked. They had several different types of casts depending on the type of break. Some injuries didn't even need plaster casts, so they instead used plastic casts with gelatin insides that velcro-ed into place. For a hairline fracture, she would be getting a thinner cast and the sling he’d mentioned before.

“While we’re taking care of this,” Dan said as he carefully rested her arm on a wheeled exam table, “can you tell me what happened?”

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, then forced herself to look away from her arm while he moved into position for setting. “Guy came up behind me. He wrenched my arm behind me, and stuck a knife against my back.” She talked fast; if she said it quick, then she wouldn’t have to linger on it. And she still didn’t feel like bursting out crying just yet. “Forced me into the alley, and uh… Well, in his words, he wasn’t after my purse or anything in it, if you follow me.”

Dan lifted his gaze to meet hers, but she kept talking before he could respond.

“I tried to call for help, and he broke my wrist. And then...I don’t know, maybe something spooked him, because he was gone before he got what he was after. I turned around and…” Her brow furrowed. “I… I think I imagined something else in the alley, but, anyway, I passed out. Next thing I know, I’m waking up and, uh...slapping Eddie in the face.”

Dan looked over at Eddie, who just gave a little shrug and a soft puff of a laugh.

“Purely on reflex, I assume,” Dan said.

“Oh, of course,” Mina replied. “Anyway, the guy was gone, and I never got a look at his face, so...”

Dan shook his head a little as he started wrapping her cast. “I’m so sorry, Mina. But I am glad that, however it happened, he ran off before the worst could happen.”

Venom was chuckling in the back of Eddie’s head, and he was doing his best to ignore it.

Mina nodded. “I’m glad too.” She looked down at her now-covered arm as he worked. Part of her longed for the days of neon-colored casts, but the plain white nestled in the navy blue sling would have to do.

“The cast will have to stay on for at least six weeks, but you can take the sling off as soon as your shoulder starts feeling better. Probably a week, at least.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” she said, feigning an exhausted tone to hide her real exhaustion as she and Dan stood.  
“You’ll just need to sign a couple forms on the way out, but you’re all done.” He put his hands in his lab coat pockets. “And, of course, you’re right-handed, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately,” she replied, slightly wiggling the fingers on her now cast-covered right hand.

He chuckled. “Well, don’t worry. Just do the best you can.”

“Can do.”

As she attempted to sign forms at the nurses station, she heard Eddie talking to Dan a few feet away. She couldn't hear all of it, but thought she heard something about dinner, and something else about a postcard. She didn't strain to hear anything more; it wasn't exactly her business, even if she  _ was  _ curious.

Once she was through, Dan said his goodbyes. He told Mina not to go throwing any punches for a few weeks, she thanked him again for his help, and he told Eddie he'd see him soon. And, just like that, the pair were back out in the brisk night air, the light coming from the other side of the glass doors shining on their backs.

"That wasn't so bad, huh?" Eddie asked, partially to her and partially to Venom.

"Definitely not as bad as it could've been," she replied with a half-smile.

_ "Could have been better. We could have gotten a snack!" _

"Really, I think my least favorite thing about hospitals is their god-awful food selection," he joked, though it was really an off-handed response to Venom.

"Yeah, thank god we were spared that." She bit down hard on her tongue to keep her next thought from coming out of her mouth:  _ "We'll just have to go find some better food together somewhere else." _ No way was she letting herself say that. God, she was hopeless.

"Either way, definitely not the night I expected," she said, looking up at him and letting her smile widen a little.

"What, you didn't expect to be swept off your feet—" Literally. "—and whisked away to the hospital by a ruggedly handsome mess of a human being? What were you hoping to be doing on this here Wednesday night?" he asked with a playful but relaxed smile as they went to the street and sort of loitered, facing each other rather than the street.

She arched a brow, grinning. "Nope, didn't expect that one bit. And I'm sure you didn't expect to be running to the rescue of a hopeless, but rather cute, mess of a human being on your surely otherwise uneventful night. So we both got some surprises this evening."

He shrugged. "Eh, it’s all good." He grinned. "And believe me, you're the least hopeless mess I have had to deal with. I have had to deal with some real losers."

_ "WHAT is THAT supposed to mean?" _

“Oh, good, then I wasn’t much of a challenge for you,” she said, grinning back. “Even though I slapped you across the face. Which I am sorry for, by the way.” The color had returned to her face again; she was still smiling, but it was more apologetic now.

“Hey, it happens." He shrugged and let out a puff of laughter. "More often than one might think; I'm a guy, after all. But, in all seriousness, you were in a bit of a state so...it was to be expected." 

She chuckled back. “Good point. My left hook isn’t half-bad, though, so I’m glad I spared you that.”

She glanced towards the empty ambulances parked nearby, knowing it was late enough that she should be heading home, but not really wanting to be the one to say it. Anything to not have to hear the multiple panicky messages from her brother for a little while longer.

They stood together, awkwardly silent, for a moment. Then Eddie cleared his throat and pulled a piece of paper from his jeans pocket. "Um, if you uh, find yourself ever needing a friendly hospital buddy..." Another awkward puff. "...call me. I've spent a lot of time here, so I don't mind." He handed her an old card from his web-reporting days with his contact info on it. 

"Oh," she said quietly, taking the card from him and looking it over. Eddie Brock—now there was a name she was sure she'd heard before. But she didn't worry about it right then. "Thanks, that might come in handy." She tucked the card into her jacket pocket and started contorting to reach into her purse for something. "Call it morbid curiosity, but can I ask why you were in the hospital so much?"

"Oh, um, it was a little liver problem. Bit of a heart problem. Nothing serious; I'm fine now," he said, waving his hand a little.  _ Yeah I was only dying. _

_ "You wouldn't have died." _

She looked up at him. "Damn, glad you're okay now." She extended a business card of her own to him. "And if you ever, uh, need need an art piece commissioned or suddenly have an urge to go to a gallery showing... Or hell if you just want my number just because, there you go," she said, smiling.

He took the card, and examined it before waving for a cab for her. "Yeah, great, thanks.” He tapped the card against his finger before sticking it in his wallet. "I'll do that." He blinked. "The gallery thing I mean." 

Mina chuckled. "Great. I'll keep an eye out for you then." Then she straightened up a little. "Well, even with how it started, it was still very nice to meet you, Eddie," she said, extending her good hand towards him. Truth be told, a hug felt more natural after the kind of night it had been, but she wasn't sure if he was a hugger or not and didn't want to make the situation more awkward than it already was.

Eddie liked hugs. Well, if he were honest, he loved them. Ever since he and Venom had bonded, hugs had become his favorite expression of familiarity and closeness with the people in his life. It was sort of the only way he could share how it felt when Venom wrapped around him. Safe, he supposed.

He shook her good hand and smiled, turning to look at the cab as it pulled up beside them. "It was nice to meet you too, Mina. You take it easy, alright?" He opened the door for her.

“Will do, thanks.” She paused, her hand on the top of the door, and smiled at him again. “And don’t go looking for any more women passed out on the street. I don’t want any competition.” Her smile stretched into a grin, her nose scrunching up a little as she chuckled to herself and turned to slide into the cab and close the door.

_ "What does that mean? Who would be in competition with her? Eddie, Eddie, is there a competition for street women?" _

_ Kind of? But that's not what she— Never mind. _

Eddie smiled and waved as her cab pulled away. Then he turned and headed down the street, pulling her card out again and all but studying it.

_ "Eddie. ...Eddie." _

"What?" he asked aloud.

_ "We are going the wrong way." _

"Oh, f— Shit, you're right."

Venom was quiet for a moment, watching Eddie look at the business card again after they finally got turned in the right direction.  _ “Your pulse has quickened.” _

“Shut up,” he muttered, still looking at the card.

Mina waited until she was home to brave looking at her phone. She wanted the length of the cab ride to mull over the last couple hours. It had been...a lot to take in, in a few different ways.

It was well past midnight by the time she dumped her bag on the floor, and there were at least a dozen texts and four voicemails from her brother, as well as single text from her sister. A pair of dogs looked at her sympathetically from their beds in the corner, waiting for her signal to come and greet her. Once they had that, they sped over, sniffing at her ankles, licking her hand, looking quizzically at the cast in the sling.

She smiled down at them. “At least someone’s happy to see me.”

Knowing full well she probably wouldn’t sleep much that night, she went about her routine as if she hadn’t been missing for several hours. And, yes, she did eat a large portion of the contents of her fridge. Whenever her dogs would turn their (slightly) judging eyes on her, she’d just look back and reply, “I could’ve died. Me—your mother—I could’ve died tonight. Let me eat, you moochers.”

The only response her brother got that night was a text that read,  _ home safe. I’ll call you tomorrow. go to sleep. _ She sent a similar text to her sister, then sat up for most of the night painstakingly typing emails to her clients apologizing for the early hour of the message and explaining that, due to an unexpected injury, she was being forced to ask for an extension on their commissioned piece. Most of her clients would surely understand, but she was dreading a handful of the responses tomorrow.

After that, she lay stretched out on her couch, staring at the ceiling while she let herself finally have a proper breakdown about what had nearly happened. She didn’t want to fully admit it, but it had dredged up memories and sensations that she’d long ago laid to rest. Or, at least, that she’d hoped she had. By the time she had gone from weeping to sobbing, her dogs had jumped up on the couch with her and curled around her, kissing her arm and face and worming their way closer to her chest. They were helping, curling around her like a furry weighted blanket. Even if they didn’t know what was going on, or what was making her cry until she could barely open her eyes anymore, they’d committed to staying right where they were until she was ready to get back up again. At least she had that.

Finally, exhaustion hit her as the sun was starting to peek through her window. She peeled herself up and away from the dogs, and they followed her as she shuffled back to kitchen. She pulled Eddie’s business card out of her jacket pocket, grabbed a magnet, and stuck it to her fridge. Then she collapsed into bed, where she was once again unconscious only a minute later.

At least one good thing had potentially come out of this whole mess.


	2. Chance Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, the response to the first chapter alone has been amazing! you all have really helped tamp down my anxieties about uploading fanfiction again, so thank you! here's another long chapter for you, that will hopefully tide you over until chapter three next week. enjoy!

Eddie had moved uptown. A bit. Well, about four blocks. Technically, he was still in a really crappy part of town, but he wasn't so down about that anymore. Anne and Dan had offered to help get him into a better place—something within his budget once he was working again—, but he'd turned down them down. He sort of liked the area now. Besides, if he moved, who was going to protect the shop owners and homeless people? He was the new muscle in town— Well,  _ they _ were the new muscle in town, and if anyone dared step out of line, or try and trod on any toes, they wanted to be where they would know about it.

He trotted up the stairs to their apartment, fishing the keys from his pocket as he did. The apartment was nicer than the previous one—had actual real (though scuffed) hardwood, and some nice tiles. The paint job wasn’t half-bad either. Though he could have lived without the crown molding; it looked a little out of place in such a small space.

It was open concept, with no doors anywhere save for the front door and the bathroom door. The latter was only there because Eddie had installed it himself. He needed some goddamn privacy! Of course, Venom had pointed out that technically Eddie was never alone, and that, even with a bathroom door, it wouldn't stop him from seeing his— Yeah,  _ okay _ , so technically he never had privacy at all. But, at least with the door, he wouldn't get the creepy feeling when he was in there, like someone was gonna spy on him from the street. He knew it was absolutely impossible, but the door still made him more comfortable. 

"So, we had our main course. What are you feeling for sides and dessert, V?" he asked as he crossed to their fridge. He loved this fridge. It was green and vintage, and it made rumbling noises every six hours. It just sort of tickled him. Venom loved it too, but mostly because it held their goodies inside of it.

_ "There is still the leftover Chinese food." _

"Alright, Chinese food it is. What about dessert?" Eddie pulled out the cartons, setting them on the counter before straightening up and opening the freezer. It was a small freezer by modern standards, but it served their purposes—which was mainly holding tater tots and ice cream.

_ "Let's eat the  _ entire _ carton of rocky road ice cream!" _

Eddie gave a chuckle and grabbed the carton out. “You got it, buddy.”

Mina also lived downtown, closer to Eddie than either of them knew, but still several blocks away in the “hipster district”, as her sister affectionately called it. Lots of artists trying to earn their keep living below established artists like herself, and catching rides however they could to schools and museums and galleries and agencies. It was busy—constantly—but there was something homey about the hustle and bustle of it all. Besides, there were shops and cafes on the same block, and a dog park a five-minute walk away. She wasn’t about to complain about the comings-and-goings of her neighbors.

Though she did complain a little when she was woken at 10am by wet, cold noses pressing against her face and arms. “Oh, god, you two... Fine, I’m up, I’m up. We’ll go out, hold on.”

She moved to stretch her arms over her head, but the sling stopped her right arm from moving very far. She winced and hugged it to her chest again. “Oh, right.”

Her dreams rushed back to the front of her mind. That...thing she’d seen. Or hallucinated. Whatever. It had only been a brief moment when she’d seen it, but she couldn’t quite get it out of her head, and it had lingered in the corners of her dreams all through the night. It hadn’t done anything; just...stood there and smiled.

She had a tried-and-true solution for getting something unstuck from her head, but her hand surely wouldn’t let her do such anything like even doodling just yet. Well, maybe she’d try, just for kicks.

Eddie always slept through his eight o’clock alarm, and his nine o’clock alarm. Usually, if he didn't have to be anywhere, that was fine. But even Venom couldn't cope with Eddie sleeping past ten; he would get too bored. Either way, it was usually Venom that woke Eddie.

Typically, he was kind. He’d simply speak to him, or give him a mental nudge to clear away any dreams he might be having. Other times, he would not be more abrupt, flipping Eddie out of the bed so that he hit the hard floor with a loud  _ thwack _ .

This morning, Venom was inclined to be quiet as long as he could, but he remained gentle when he did give Eddie a little prod.  _ “Eddie. Eddie. Wake up, it's morning." _ An inky black tendril seeped up out of Eddie's shoulder and flicked gently over his messy dark blonde hair.

Eddie grunted and stirred a little, shifting against his pillows, drool sliding along his cheek. "Hmm? Wha— What? I'm up, I'm up." His head lifted a little, the tendril still curled loosely around it, and he sniffed loudly as he tried to wake up. "What is it?" he mumbled.

Silence.

"V?" His hand slid up to run his fingers over the tendril. The inky black was oddly warm against his fingertips as it slid along his fingers to grasp his hand. 

_ "It's morning." _

"Oh, yeah..." He groaned and rolled over, squinting at the window where the morning sunlight shone through. He yawned and then moaned as he stretched. "Oh, man... I was out." 

_ "Yes." _

Eddie rolled out of bed and stood, still holding Venom’s hand as they shuffled to the kitchen to start the pot of coffee before heading for the bathroom.

Mina was half-asleep, half-daydreaming as she let her dogs go about their business. She sat on the building’s front steps, slumped forward, and perked up only when someone passed close enough to potentially trip on the dogs' leads stretched across the sidewalk.

A passing thought wondered if Eddie was still sleeping, if their incidental meeting last night had wrecked his whole day, when a voice spoke from behind her.

"Hey, Mina, you look like shit."

She groaned, turning to peer up at the person above her on the steps. "Who dares describe me so accurately? As if I didn't know, Abbie."

The young woman chuckled, crushing a cigarette butt against her heel before tossing it away. "You get in another bar fight, slugger?"

"Yep," Mina replied, "went three rounds with an attempted rapist."

Abbie froze, looking down at her. "You're serious."

"Yep," she said again.

Abbie sat down next to her. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Bastard broke my wrist, but it could've been worse, so I'm not complaining."

"God, you must've been terrified."

"Of course I was. Wasn't so bad after, though. An honest-to-god kind stranger helped me out, not one of those stranger-danger strangers."

Abbie raised a brow. "Oh, yeah? Who was it?"

Mina grinned tiredly. "I'll tell you sometime when you're not about to be late for class."

"Shit."

"Thought I wouldn't notice?"

"Hoping you wouldn't." Abbie stood with a long sigh. "Fine, fine."

"Go, child. Go learn something new."

"Yeah, yeah," Abbie said, waving over her shoulder at her as she hopped down the rest of the steps. She stopped to give the dogs a pat on the head.

"And quit smoking."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Abbie said, giving an exaggerated eye roll and a smile. With that, she was off.

Mina's dogs trotted back over, one stopping in front of her and the other sitting next to her on the step. She smiled at them. "Who wants burgers for breakfast? Because I want burgers for breakfast." She needed a long shower and a heavy meal before she even ventured towards her computer and the replies to her emails.

Her dogs were noisily eating in the corner a couple minutes after they returned to the apartment. It was a big, wide space. Or, it would’ve been, if most every spare inch hadn’t been filled with canvasses and tubs of paint, tools, and sketchbooks. It was chaos, but organized chaos. 

As an artist, she allowed herself some eccentricities, but even she had a limit. Especially since clients would sometimes come to her home for meetings. At the very least, her kitchen and bedroom had to be clean; the rest of the open space could be overrun with art supplies. This was often a difficult rule to have, as the only thing even partially enclosed was the bedroom.

Four walls framed her bedroom, but there was no door. Through her room was the apartment's only bathroom. Everything else was open and brightly lit by the sun streaming through the big windows facing the street down below. Even the metal spiral staircase in the corner was nearly covered with all her "art shit", as she sometimes called it. But it only lead to the roof, which she didn't often need access to. And her dogs didn't seem to mind, so long as their corner with their beds and toys was arranged the way they liked it, and so long as they were allowed to lay on the sofa in front of the TV once in a while.

She wanted to call it all "minimalist", but she knew that was a flat-out lie.

After her shower, she returned to the kitchen to order her latest craving. Before she finished dialing, she stopped to look at Eddie's business card on the fridge. Part of her wanted to call him, to make sure he'd gotten home okay after everything. But it was too soon, right? Didn’t all those straight rom-coms have some kind of rule about calling people too soon? Not that she generally listened to those rules, but… 

She left the card be for the time being. Burgers first, boys later. And brother even later.

After towel-drying his freshly-washed hair, Eddie slung the damp towel over his shoulders. He clapped his hands together, picking up the booklet of take-out menus from the kitchen counter. "So, what should we do for breakfast today, buddy? You feeling adventurous?” He paused on one menu. “We still haven't tried that Mongolian place that opened up last month."

_ "Burgers." _

"Burgers?" He wrinkled his brow. "You're craving burgers on this Thursday morning? Really? Okay. I bet Mac would be thrilled to see us.” He usually was, since they always ordered heaping amounts of burgers, fries, and shakes. He chuckled at the thought and grabbed his wallet, making sure they had enough for their usual from the diner. "And look at that, just enough. Burgers it is. I just gotta get dressed, and then we can go."

Mac's Burger Diner was a real Mom-and-Pop-type of place. It was the place you went to when you wanted a  _ real _ burger, and a  _ real _ milkshake. Hell, even if all you wanted was a decent slice of apple pie. It was one of their favorite haunts.

The bell above the door rang as they entered.

"Hey, Mac, how's it hangin’?"

"Eddie! Pretty good, all things considered. You want your usual?"

"You know it," Eddie said with a grin as they slid into their usual booth. 

"Alright, you order’ll be the next I start on."

_ "Tell him we want the milkshakes first." _

"Hey Mac—"

"Don't worry, the milkshakes will be coming on a conveyor belt."

Eddie chuckled to himself, and thanked a waitress who dropped off a glass of ice water for him. Mere minutes later, their first milkshake was being slid in front of him.

They were both distracted by the milkshake when Eddie heard Mac pick up a ringing phone somewhere over his shoulder. He didn’t really tune into Mac’s greeting until he heard him say, “Hey, Mina. Little early for you, ain’t it?”

He stopped mid-slurp and looked over his shoulder. Mac was facing away from him, but his shoulders shook when he chuckled. “What are the odds...” he wondered quietly.

_ “Hey, I wasn’t done yet,” _ Venom complained, trying to get him back towards the shake.

“Your usual? Sure thing, sweetheart. See you in a few.”

“Usual?”

_ “Eddie, milkshake.” _

He turned and sat facing forward again, brow furrowed slightly. “What if it’s the same Mina?”

_ “So what if it is?” _

Eddie went back to drinking the shake, if only to occupy himself and Venom. San Francisco was a big city, and Mina wasn’t a wholly unique name, but...

_ “Your heart rate is elevated again.” _

“So what if it is?”

Their usual was about four burgers—rare, no onions or lettuce—, large fries, and no less than six milkshakes. Mac only ever charged them for the first three milkshakes and only one of the burgers and fries. They were good regulars, so he’d decided to cut them a break. 

Eddie was soon munching on the first burger, cheeks puffed out as he took a bigger bite than was probably wise. But, goddamn, it tasted good. Even if it was a bit rarer than he liked.

This was the only place that Venom liked eating in. Everywhere else, they usually ordered to-go so Venom could show himself and eat with Eddie. But when they ate here, he was content to just let Eddie eat the food, even if it took longer. Occasionally, though, Venom would slither down along Eddie's side, and Eddie would slip a few fries under the table for him to munch on. Neither of them much liked eating alone.

But then the bell over the door rang again, and suddenly Venom said,  _ ”Let’s eat the rest at home.” _

“Why?” Eddie asked quietly, but then his attention was on the familiar-looking brunette approaching the front counter. She was wearing a loose-fit dark red T-shirt, showing off the tattoos winding down her left arm, and snug black jeans that, from where he was sitting, showed off just about everything else. And she had a sling and cast on her right arm.

Eddie swallowed down some more milkshake to appease Venom, because they weren’t going anywhere. He wanted to talk to her. Didn't he? Maybe? Just to be sure she was doing okay? Well, obviously she was doing okay. She looked okay. He felt his eyes do a subtle once-over of her.  _ Maybe better than okay… _

Mac threw a hand up as he approached the opposite side of the counter. “Okay, who had the wrong idea to mess with you, Mina?”

She laughed in spite of herself. “Some lowlife who had nothing better to do last night.”

“You doin’ okay?”

“Broken wrist,” she replied. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back to ‘great’ in no time.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said with a big smile. “Sit anywhere you like; I’ll bring it out to ya.”

“Thanks, Mac.” And that was when she turned her head and found herself looking at a familiar face. Her heart slid up into her throat, but she managed out, “Eddie?” It looked like the "burgers" and "boys" portions of her day were about to collide.

Eddie blinked and almost looked like maybe he wanted to duck under the table, but sort of nodded then smiled at her awkwardly. "Hey, Ms. Mina." He couldn't resist. He may have not been the most attentive student but he'd read  _ Dracula _ .

She smiled, corners of her nose scrunching as they had the night before as she moved closer the table. “Hey there.”

"You're looking better than last night. How are you feeling?" he asked before gesturing to the seat opposite him in the booth. "You can sit here and wait if you like."

_ "I want a fry." _

“Thanks, I’m feeling a lot better too.” She sat down, setting her bag on the seat next to her. “I tend to bounce back from stuff pretty well, but then I never know till I know. How ‘bout you? You get any sleep?”

Now that she was closer, he did notice the bags under her eyes, but he wasn’t about to say anything on that subject.

"Oh yeah, I usually sleep like a baby," he said with a smile. At least he had been for the last month or so. It had, admittedly, taken a bit of internal fiddling to get him to sleep well and sleep as much as he needed since he and Venom had bonded. He had spent a few months suffering from pretty nasty nightmares, but Venom had fixed that little problem, and now he slept great more often than not. "I could sleep through an earthquake," he joked, taking another fry and eating it, even though he knew that wasn't what Venom had meant by his request for a fry.

“I think that’s the sort of sleep I had, once I fell asleep.” She looked up when a waitress dropped off a glass of water for her, and thanked her before taking a long drink through the straw. “‘Course my dogs wouldn’t let me sleep longer than, oh, an hour ago, or I might’ve slept through the whole day.”

"Oh, you have dogs?" he asked. He was more a dog person than a cat person, but he had never really disliked cats. Hell, he didn't even dislike Annie's cat. Even though he was a bit of a dick.

“Yep, two of ‘em.”

He smiled and slurped up the last dregs of the milkshake just as the same waitress brought out another one. "Thank you," he said with a smile.

She thought about asking about the sudden appearance of that second milkshake, then realized that, on a post-breakup tear, she’d once downed four during one sitting at this place. Definitely no room to judge. “Both pit bulls,” she continued, “and the biggest love bugs I’ve ever met.”

Luckily, she had missed him eat his first two burgers, so when the third came, it didn't seem that odd. "Oh, sweet. Are they bluies or brownies?" Those were the most common colors among pits, closely followed by the white ones.

“One blue, one brown,” she said, pleased that he knew the color names and had asked like that. Instead of,  _ “Why do you have pit bulls? They’re such a harsh breed!” _ or some variant thereof. “They’re a handful, but, honestly, it’s worth it. Also the number of people that wanna mess with a short tattooed woman walking two pit bulls? Very small. It’s great,” she said with a grin.

"The only thing missing is one of those big obnoxious pickup trucks." He laughed, cutting his burger in half, because it just wasn't polite to stuff one’s face in mixed company. 

_ “She doesn't seem so scary," _ Venom rumbled, grumpy. Eddie could feel it coiling in his gut—the other's feelings. He always did.

She laughed and said, “Oh my god, you’re right. God, those things  _ are _ obnoxious. Why anyone has one when they live in the city, I don’t understand.”

"The gas rates here in Frisco for one of those must be ridiculous," he said before taking a bite of his burger, making a noise as some of the juice dripped out. He wiped his mouth and fingers. Venom purred. He loved rare meat. It was the only kind of “dead” meat he would eat.

“Your burger’s bleeding,” she joked, taking another drink of water. Then she remembered something from their conversations the night before. “You mentioned last night you were from New York. Just out of curiosity, what brought you all the way out here to the opposite coast?”

He could have lied. Could have easily spouted the lies he had told himself and told Annie and told Dan but...

He clicked his teeth and shook his head, grabbing another fry and breaking it in half. 

"Ran out of good fortune and luck." He shrugged. "Couldn't find work."

She gave a sympathetic groan. “Been there.” She swallowed another gulp of water before ticking things off on her fingers. “I’ve been a tutor, an accountant, a graphic designer, did some moonlighting singing in all-night coffee shops and bars...” She tilted her head to one side. “Still do that once in a while, matter of fact.” Then she looked at him again. “But, so far, the nebulous title of ‘artist’ is the only thing that’s stuck.”

"Good for you." He smiled and took another bite of his food. He chewed and swallowed before going on. "Artist is a great title."

She smiled and nodded her head a little. "Thanks, I like to think so." She didn't feel like getting into how certain members of her family felt about it right then. "If I read your card right, you're an investigative journalist?" She also didn't feel like admitting that she'd googled him before she passed out at dawn that morning.

"Oh, yeah, used to have my own web-series. I work more traditionally now, though." He smiled. "Still investigative, still a bit of an ass, still looking for the truth...and writing about it regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. Because the truth is more important than people’s feelings, my own included," he said in a long spiel. Basically, if that didn't scare her away, maybe they could be friendly.

She nodded again. "I respect that. You've got more integrity than some...other people working in your field today." It wasn’t exactly the best climate to be a journalist interested in the actual truth.

Then she looked up when Mac approached the table, plate in hand with her order on it. He set it down in front of her and said. "You looked kinda...involved in your conversation; figured you'd wanna hang out longer." He gave a wink before walking away.

Mina half-turned in her seat. "You know you're a little too observant, Mac!"

"What can I say, kiddo? It's what I do best." He smiled. “Besides my milkshakes. Yeah, you got two more coming, Eddie." 

"Thanks, Mac," Eddie said with an awkward smile. 

Mina sat back in her seat and raised a brow at him. "Never thought I'd meet somebody who likes Mac's milkshakes as much as me," she said, and started cutting her burger into quarters. With only one hand to properly hold anything, she knew it was best to play it safe with her food.

"I have a wicked sweet tooth, and nothing hits the spot like Mac's chocolate milkshakes," he said brightly before dipping a fry into the chocolate shake and munching on it. 

_ "We don't like Mac's milkshakes. We LOVE them!" _ Venom shouted in Eddie's head, making him wince slightly, but his smile never faltered. 

"Hmm, we have that in common," she said, grinning as she picked up a fry off her plate and dipped it in his shake before popping it in her mouth.

"And that,” he said with a nod. “I never did that before but, uh, a friend sort of got me onto the whole chocolatey-salty combination."

_ "That was me Eddie. We did that, we like that!" _ Venom purred proudly. 

"Yeah, it’s nice." 

"My sister and I always used to gross out my brother doing this. He still thinks it's disgusting." She smiled at him. "Glad this friend converted you to the best combination this side of Market Street."

"Ann— Another friend used to think it was gross, too.” It suddenly occurred to him how strange it was to be talking to someone who didn’t know who Anne was. “But I mean… Technically, on a really base level, it's no different than, like...sweet and sour pork."

She nodded enthusiastically, another fry in her mouth. "Exactly!" she said around the food. "Finally, someone who gets it."

They wound up eating the rest of their lunches together. Well, mostly talking rather than eating. It took them two hours to get through everything—which was making Venom particularly grumpy. They didn’t like being cooped up for so long while they were conscious.

But those how those two hours flew by for the two humans. They didn’t even look up until they realized that the lunch rush was starting to hit. At which time, a waitress dropped off their tabs, and Mina took the opportunity to scoop up both receipts and jump up from the table. "It's on me!" She said it like they were kids and she was teasing him at recess.

When Eddie went after her, trying to protest, she turned and poked a finger at his chest, receipts clutched in her hand. "You're my hero, Eddie Brock. The least I can do is buy you lunch." Then she grinned. "Besides, you wouldn't wrestle a woman with a broken wrist, would ya?"

He blinked at her as she poked at his chest, directly over where Venom was nestled. 

He smiled awkwardly, feeling a few beads of sweat break out on his brow. "Uh, yeah— I mean no, no I...I wouldn't. But you really don't have to do that." He’d had four burgers and six shakes. Sure, it didn't say that on the tab, but it was still going to be expensive. 

"Yes, I really do." It was the only thing she wanted to do that was considered appropriate in public. God, what the fuck was going on in her head lately? Had she been single longer than she’d realized?

Regardless, she smiled and turned on her heel to go to the register, where she refused to let Eddie see what the total was as she slid Mac her debit card. She left a generous tip as well, and snatched up her receipt before Eddie could even get a glimpse at it. Even with one arm in a sling, she was still giving him a run for his money.

Of course, the fact that her arm was in a sling was definitely giving her an advantage. He wasn't going to risk even running into her when she was injured. "Ah, okay you win,” he conceded as she stuffed the receipt in her bag.

_ "We could easily defeat her!"  _

"I can appreciate a man who knows when he's been bested," she said, and pushed the restaurant door open with her good shoulder.

_ That's not the point, V, _ Eddie thought back.  _ She's teasing us. _

_ "Why would she do that?! I thought she liked us!" _

Eddie smiled to himself, watching her.  _ I think she does. _

"So," she said, turning on the sidewalk to look at him, "you got anything else exciting planned for the rest of your day?"

"Not a thing," he said, shaking his head and giving a little shrug.

_ "I thought we were going to watch the series finale of  _ House _?" _

_ We can do that later. _

"Hmm," she replied, pretending to mull on that for a moment. "I was thinking about taking a trip to the dog park as an apology for worrying my babies last night. Don't suppose you'd wanna hang out with a couple lovable pit bulls and their owner, would ya?"

He smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like fun. I have to check my mail and make a phone call, but I'll meet you there?" he asked with a slightly quirked brow.

"Sounds perfect," she replied. Ugh, there was that urge to hug him again. This time, though, there was the assurance that this was just "see you soon", not "goodbye until who knows when", and that was enough for the moment.

She took a half-step backwards. "See you there, Eddie." And she turned to head back to her apartment, suddenly grateful that she was wearing her tight black pants as she walked away.

He tilted his head slightly as he watched her walk away, then gave a small head-shake.  _ No. You're a modern man. Don't be a creep, _ he thought as he headed back towards his own apartment. 

Venom was quiet the entire way there—and throughout checking the mail, his phone call, and the walk to the park. Or most way of the way to the park.

Eddie felt Venom shift before he actually saw him, but then, a moment later, the symbiote was trailing away ahead of him, short and squat and square, with a thin tendril connecting Eddie's hand to him.

"What the— Really?" he asked incredulously as they came to a stop. "Really, you're really doing this right now?"

_ "I am tired of being cooped up," _ Venom rumbled in his head, the figure looking back and up at him. Venom’s visage as a pit bull was...alarming. But he passed. Barely.

As Mina was making sure her dogs' harnesses were on right, her phone started ringing. She jokingly wondered if Eddie was "having trouble" finding the dog park as an excuse to finally dial her number, but the caller ID made her smile fall.

Reluctantly, she answered. It wasn’t like she could ignore him forever, after all. "Hey."

"Mina, you said you'd call me today? It’s past noon, if you haven’t bothered to look at a clock yet."

"I was a little busy sleeping off the night I had last night, dude, calm down."

He huffed. "Yeah, sure, ‘sleeping it off’. What, did you get wasted and pass out in the lobby again?"

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, hand gripping her phone tighter, and let out a long breath before she spoke again. "For your information, I was almost assaulted and spent most of the night in the hospital getting my broken wrist set. Thanks for your concern, Jonathan. I could've died last night, and you just keep making assumptions based on old bullshit from five years ago. Real nice of you." She hung up on him in the middle of his reply, put her phone on silent, stuffed it in her pocket, and grabbed up her dogs' leashes and left the apartment. Let him yell at her voicemail again for a little while, for all she cared. He deserved more than a cold shoulder, but it was all she could give him right then.

Her huff, though, had dissipated by the time she reached the dog park; the chance of seeing Eddie again had that effect on her, it seemed. Well, that, and the sight of all the dogs just running all over the bright green grass. It was hard to be angry when she was at the dog park.

Eddie and Venom were seated at a bench, watching the other owners and dogs. "See V, this is a pretty good place to observe good humans—and it's very easy to spot a bad one here. Dogs are great and sussing out assholes." Most animals were really. 

_ "Dogs don't like us." _

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Eddie huffed, but then relaxed. That wasn't fair. He knew it wasn't Venom’s fault that dogs growled at him now. "Just don't... Dogs are off limits, okay?"

"Hey, stranger," Mina said as she approached, drawing his attention. Then her eyes shifted to the inky black...dog? maybe? sitting on the ground next to him. "Oh, I don't remember you mentioning you had a dog. Pittie babies all around."

Her dogs eyed Venom cautiously, but made no noise beyond a confused little whine.

"Oh, yeah." He stood and awkwardly scratched his head, never letting go of the black leash. "He's new. I'm testing him out—seeing if we're a good match." 

Venom lightly yanked the leash, making Eddie lean to the side slightly and let out a puff of air. "So far, so good." 

She chuckled. "Fingers crossed for you." She'd never seen a dog that black before, and his eyes... Something about them seemed almost familiar. But she held back from saying anything. She'd seen some other odd-looking dogs, of course, and they were all deserving of love and a good home, no matter how they looked.

She looked down at her own dogs. "Girls, be polite and say hi to Eddie. I know he's new, but be gentle."

Eddie turned his free hand palm up so they could sniff him. He knew what sort of reaction to expect; dogs didn't like him anymore, which was just...so sad. 

Again, they looked hesitant, but one of them—the brownie—did give his hand a small lick before they both returned to their mother for her approval.

Venom tilted his head and looked between the dog, Eddie's hand, and then up at Eddie when the dog licked it. Was this a good sign?

_ Well, that's better than usual _ , Eddie thought, happily surprised. 

Mina raised a brow at the pair of dogs. "That's it? Alright, you just wanna go run, don't you? Fine, fine." She left their harnesses on, but unhooked their leashes, and then they waited again, watching her. It wasn't until she said, "Go on," and nodded towards the other dogs that they took off running at full speed.

"Beautiful dogs," he said, sitting down and booting Venom down onto the grass. He gave a low, rumbling growl, but sat down anyway.

Mina sat down next to him, looking like the proud momma she was. “Thanks.” She looked at Venom again, still eyeing him with caution. “So what’s his name? Or does he have one yet?” 

Eddie blanked.

Venom tilted his head back and peered up at him. 

"Um, uh, Venom," he stammered.  _ Way to be original, Eddie, you idiot. _

_ "But that is our name," _ Venom thought back to him.

“Venom.” She looked at the strange dog sitting on the grass again. “It suits him, I think.”

Venom looked back at Eddie and let his tongue loll out ever so slightly and gave a slight wiggle.  _ "Yes, Eddie, see? It suits us," _ he teased.

Mina chuckled again, happy that she seemed to have made the dog happy.

Eddie just shook his head a little and looked up to try to find Mina’s dogs. “And what’re yours named?”

“Oh, the blue one is Angel Marie.” With a perfectly straight face, and without looking at him, she continued, “And the brownie is Big Fat Ugly Bug-Face Baby-Eating O’Brien. ‘O’Brien’ for short.”

Both Venom and Eddie looked at her, Venom's ears perked, head cocked, and Eddie looking scandalized. "W-Wha— The first one, I totally get, but... Why would you do that?" he asked, just so, so confused. 

She looked at him, lips pressed together to barely contain her laughter. “That’s my litmus test for new people I meet. Tells me you haven’t seen the cinematic classic  _ Muppet Treasure Island _ .” She laughed now. “Your face, oh my god. I swear to god, that’s the only reason I would ever name a pet anything like that.”

"What the hell? No?" He looked baffled. "They made more Muppet movies?" he asked, totally serious. After the first Muppet movie, he really hadn't heard of any others and hadn't looked into it—because he’d had no reason to.

She stared at him, still looking like she wanted to burst out laughing. "Dude, really?" she asked, pushing her hand up into her hair. "They made, like...so many.  _ Take Manhattan _ ,  _ In Space _ , the one that just came out about three years ago? I mean they're not all masterpieces like  _ Treasure Island _ , but... Where have you been?"

"Um..." He just looked awkward and bemused. "Watching movies for adults when I have time to?" he said with a chuckle.

She made an exaggerated offended face. “Ouch. I resent that, Eddie. The Muppets are an all-ages property,” she said with a grin.

He chuckled again, smiling at her. "No, I guess, uh... I just don't really pay too much attention. I can't tell you the last time I've been to the movies, so..."

“That makes sense,” she said, nodding. “I went to the movies...god, two weeks ago?” She shrugged her shoulder. “I guess I go a lot.”

"Well, don’t get me wrong, I like the movies—a lot. I just never liked going alone.” There was nothing worse than sitting alone in a packed theater where couples got all mushy and disgusting. Especially because the best part about going to the movies was holding someone's hand.

She studied his expression for a moment, a fond little smile on her face. “Well, if you ever need someone to go with, you  _ do _ have my number now.”

_ "You don't need her to go to the movies! We can go to the movies!" _

Eddie smiled at her, a bit oblivious to Venom at that moment. "Yeah, you're right. I may take you up on that sometime."

Her brow quirked a little as her smile widened. “Please do. I haven’t been to the movies with someone else in ages. Sorta miss the company.” She missed holding someone’s hand too. 

Venom huffed and laid in the grass, watching all the dogs run around as far away as possible. He couldn't believe this. This was ridiculous. If Eddie hadn't gotten them the breakfast of their choice, he might have put up more of a fuss. Maybe he’d put up a fuss later when they were back home. If the mood felt right, of course.

Mina looked at Venom as he laid down. “Does he not play well with others yet?” she asked.

Eddie look down at the black mass in the grass. "Yeah, uh no, no." He shook his head. "Not at all. Trying some slow socialization. "

Mina nodded. “Good idea. Don’t wanna push him into things too suddenly.” The dog looked kind of annoyed enough as it was just being there, but she didn’t say so. Then she looked up at her dogs, who currently seemed to be playing tag with a whole horde of other dogs. “As you can see, mine have just adjusted horribly to this whole ‘other dogs’ thing.”

He looked over and watched as the dogs ran around, and couldn't help the warm smile that curled up one corner of his mouth. He loved dogs so much. "Oh, yes, just horribly," he joked. 

They chit-chatted a while longer, but mostly just sat together and people-watched. Er, dog-watched. It felt easy, natural—making small-talk or sitting in comfortable quiet. It was nice, to say the least.

After a while, though, she noticed her dogs beginning to get tired. They wouldn’t leave on their own, of course. That would make them look like losers to the other dogs, and they couldn’t have that.

Mina stood from the bench, and started to lift her right arm toward her mouth before her sore shoulder and sling stopped her. “Fuck, right.” So she lifted her left hand, put two fingers in her mouth, and let out a loud, sharp whistle. “Angel, O’Brien! C’mon!”

The pair perked up their ears and started trotting back towards the bench.

“Sorry about the whistle,” she said to Eddie. “Only way to tear them apart from their friends.”

Eddie stood as she got her dogs rounded up and leashed again. He clasped his hands behind his back and swayed a little on his heels while he watched her. Her dogs were good and well-behaved, but obviously uncomfortable around Venom, who was now standing beside Eddie. He was still imposing, even when he only came to the man's knees. 

"I'm glad we ran into each other today,” he said. “It was good seeing you again, and...I'm glad you're doing okay. All things considered." 

"Thanks, and I'm glad we did, too," she said, straightening back up and looking at him as her dogs moved behind her. "If I'm being honest, I was hoping we'd bump into each other again." Felt a little more meaningful than planning to meet up. At least, this soon after their...odd first meeting. She smiled. "So I'm glad today didn't disappoint me in that regard."

"Love when that happens," he said with a smile. "It happens so infrequently but when it does—" He made a clicking sound with his mouth. "—it's so sweet."

He offered her his left hand. "Oh, and I'll have to check out your art gallery sometime soon." Art was definitely not his forté, but he wanted to see what kind of work she did.

She put his hand in his, giving a bit more of a firm shake than she'd been able to manage the night before. "Yes, you will. I could send you the info for the next sorta open house night we're having, if you like?"

He shook her hand back, smiling. "That'd be nice, yeah, uh...the email on my card is still current, so, um... Yeah, if we don't see each other before then..."

She nodded. "You got it. Though I do hope we see each other again in the meantime." That urge to hug him was almost overwhelming. Still, she knew it probably best to wait until one of her arms wasn't in a sling, and the other wasn't about to be preoccupied with holding her dogs' leashes. Would make for an awkward hug, and that was the last thing she wanted right then.

"Yeah, I'm sure we will." Maybe he would call her. Sure he would; he had her number, after all. "I'll call you," he found himself saying aloud.

Why did he say that? Shit, why was he making promises that he might not be able to keep? Wait, what? Of course he would be able to keep it. It was just a phone call.

Her eyes brightened, and she struggled to keep her smile under control. "Sounds great." God, was her heart fluttering? What, was she suddenly a teenager again? Fuck. "See you, Eddie."

“See you, Mina,” he replied with a little smile.

She wasn't exactly looking forward to leaving, but the thought that he was looking forward to watching her walk away made it a little more worth it. Maybe she'd have to start wearing these pants more often, if he was gonna keep turning up.

Eddie did watch her walk away, crooked smile firmly in place; but he managed to be less creepy this time, and didn’t linger too long watching her. 

Once she was gone, he headed for the exit. Venom trotted beside him for a ways; when no one was looking, he seeped back up along Eddie’s arm and vanished under his hoodie. 

_ "I don't like her." _

"I think she's awesome."

Venom growled.

"What do you girls think, hmm?" Mina asked her dogs as the hopped up the steps of their building. "Because I think I like him. A lot."

"Like who a lot?"

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

Abbie grinned, smacking the gum in her mouth. "Last class was cancelled."

Mina gave her a look as she paused next to her to check her mail. "You weren't just waiting around for me were you?" She raised a brow. "People will think you're a stalker, young lady."

"Waiting for a ride," she said, then blew a small bubble with her gum.

"Oh, got a hot date?"

"No, but sounds like you're after one."

Mina nodded her head a little, sifting through the envelopes she'd pulled out of her box. "I mean, you're not wrong."

Abbie leaned against the wall next to her and gave O'Brien a couple pats on the head. "So who's this 'he'? The helpful stranger from last night?"

Mina couldn't completely suppress her grin. God, she had to tell someone, and she hadn't had time to call her sister yet. "Yes, as a matter of fact. A very cute and awkward journalist."

"A journalist?" Abbie wrinkled her nose. "Sounds stuffy."

Mina sighed wistfully. "You're young yet, my dear."

A car horn honking outside drew their attention.

"Be safe, Abbie."

"Yeah, yeah." She spat out her gum in the trash can near the door, and rushed out of the building towards the car waiting at the curb.

Mina sighed again and tucked the mail under arm before heading up the stairs with her girls. "Bills, my dears. It's that time again."

It was also time for her to face her clients' email responses, as well as her overloaded cell phone. 15 text messages, 3 missed calls. Not as bad as it could've been, even though they were all from Jonathan.

She skimmed over the longer text messages, really only lingering on the last two that read, _ I'm sorry, Mina. I shouldn't have made assumptions about what happened to you last night. _ and  _ I'm glad you're alright. _

She sent back three sentences:  _ apology accepted. I'm still fine. I'll talk to you later. _

Then her attention turned apprehensively to her laptop. Pros: Emailing Eddie the info about their next gallery night. Cons: Potentially any message she'd received since the early hours of the morning.

She gave a quiet, prolonged groan. No, not yet. She decided to keep another promise instead, and picked up her phone.

Two rings, as usual. "Mina?"

"Hey, Lucy."

"Oh, god, Mina, Jonathan told me what happened. Are you alright? Do you need anything? Don't answer that, I'm coming over."

Mina chuckled. "No, no, stop. I'm fine, really. Even left the house and got myself food earlier."

"But he said you broke your wrist! That you'd been—!"

"Almost," she interrupted. "I'm really alright, Luce. No need to rush over. I mean, you can always come over, but there's no emergency."

Lucy took a couple deep breaths. "Okay, if you insist, then I believe you. God, I wish I'd been able to be with you at the hospital, sis. I know how you get, and the thought of you being in there alone..."

"I wasn't alone."

Mina could practically hear her sister's big eyes blinking from the other end of the phone. "You weren't?"

"No, I, uh... Someone found me not long after and got me to the hospital. He stayed with me until I left the hospital."

"Oh, thank god. If I ever meet him, I'm gonna give him the biggest hug he's ever gotten in his entire life."

Mina chuckled. "Ah, you and me both with the hugging."

"Oh? Is he cute?"

She leaned back, resting her head on a throw pillow on her couch's armrest. "Probably about 5'9 or 10, broad shoulders, cute messy hair... And god, his lips. Fuck, sis, he's so pretty."

Lucy chuckled. "Well, now I must begin the campaign to get you two dating, apparently."

"Might be a little late on that train, my dear. I bumped into him again today."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, we had an early lunch together, and then we went to the dog park."

Lucy let out a long breath. "Y'know, for someone who had a night like you just had, you move fast, Sis."

Mina grinned. "Yeah, well... He said he's gonna call me, and he wants to come to the next open night at the gallery."

Lucy was grinning too, she knew it. "Minaaa, oh my god! Wait, that means I'll get to meet him. You know I'm coming. Oh god, I can't wait. When's the next show?"

"Well, I asked Trevor if we could push it back a week so that I can at least be out of the sling on my arm by the time we have it. The cast I don't mind, but this sling is very inconvenient."

"Understandable. Ooh, Sis, everyone could sign your cast!"

Mina laughed. "Yeah, I guess they could."

"Well, I was already excited for another of your showings, but now...!"

"Same here. He said we might see each other again before that, but... God, it can't come soon enough." She thought for a moment. "Maybe I'll try painting with my left hand again to pass the time."

"Good idea. Also, you’re as hopeless as ever."

“Thanks, Luce. I appreciate that.”

Venom gave Eddie the silent treatment the entire way home, and Eddie knew that he would have to make it up to the symbiote. Otherwise, once he started talking, he'd never shut the hell up. Not that Venom was ever too terribly quiet as it was. Okay, Eddie wasn't quiet either; they both liked to talk. Which is partially what made the silence so deafening. 

"Okay, how about this?" he said as he bounded up the stairs, a definite bounce in his step as he did. "We order an shit-load of takeout for dinner, we finish  _ House _ , and then we start in on another show? We can binge it all night," he offered as he fished out his key and unlocked the door.

No response. 

He sighed and stepped into the apartment. Venom could really be a massive piss-baby sometimes. He grabbed a beer and a bottle of water, mixed both over the sink, and sipped at it as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on the counter. Then he leaned over the counter and started leafing through the takeout menus as they had that morning.

He ordered known favorites from each menu—his credit was shit, but he could afford one splurge; Anne would help him if he needed it. Between calls and while listening to the cheesy ethnic music in the background of each restaurant, he munched on cheese balls and tried to get Venom to talk to him. Still no luck.

About an hour and forty-five minutes later, more than half of their dinner had arrived, and Eddie was counting the change in his wallet and wondering if he could afford to run down to the market and get a three-liter soda.

"Nope, not enough. Oh well, we have stuff here." He grabbed more water—knowing that, even upset, Venom wouldn't like it if he had too much beer—and flopped onto the sofa. He kicked his feet up and flipped through Netflix, humming a little tune as he pulled up the series finale of  _ House _ . 

As the previous episode review played, Eddie took a sip from his water bottle and tried talking to him again. "C'mon, V. You know I don't want to watch this alone." 

There was a beat of silence, and then the inky black and familiar warmth of Venom slid along Eddie's shoulder blade. The symbiote's face poked up beside Eddie's, grinning maw glistening.  _ "Feed us egg rolls and turn it up." _

Eddie couldn't help but grin back. "You got it."

After eating again, Mina finally mustered up the courage the open her emails. Trevor had agreed to the change the gallery night, and said he'd updated all the websites and sent alerts to anyone who'd already received the invitation. She sent a big thanks back in all caps, then turned to the replies from her clients.

As she'd expected, most of them were understanding, and wished her a speedy recovery. Actually, only one of them seemed more than annoyed. But she'd gotten that sort of vibe from him when they'd first met, too. She hadn't even let him meet her at her apartment. There wasn't anything at all to indicate he was a creep, but he just seemed like a curmudgeon who liked to take out his frustration on others, and she wasn't about that. Last thing she needed was someone like that knowing where she lived.

So she sent the most polite reply she could manage, while stressing that she felt she couldn't do the work he deserved with her hand in a cast, and then went to get Eddie's business card off the fridge.

Truthfully, she'd added his number to her phone the night before, but hadn't gotten around to his email before she'd passed out. She copied the updated information from her website into the email, then typed,  _ Hey, Eddie, here it is! Hope you'll be there. _ Then she paused and added,  _ P.S.: Don't think I didn't notice your acknowledgement of my namesake at the diner. "Miss Mina"—love whenever someone catches that. _

She hit "send" before she could add anything more potentially embarrassing. Like, for example, "My sister can't wait to meet you!" Yeah, that would've been such a good thing to say to a guy she hadn't even known for 24 hours.

She put her chin in her hand, looking over at her dogs. "Girls, your mom's a mess."

They didn't look too terribly surprised.


	3. Taking Chances

Two days later, Eddie's morning went as expected, but ended in crisis.

He paced the small apartment in his pajama pants, feat padding lightly against the hardwood while Venom munched at a large tub of leftovers—Eddie wasn't even sure what it was anymore. The length of black goo that connected them flexed and unwound as he paced. He ran nervous hands over his face and occasionally shot a glance towards his phone.

Then he paused by the nightstand and shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking at his phone like it were some strange alien thing.

Should he call her? He reached for the phone, then groaned and began his pacing again.

Mina's days had been a mix of busy and dull. The dull was comprised mostly of attempting any art with her left hand while she let Netflix play ceaselessly in the background.

The busy was taken up by Lucy bursting into the apartment with a full load of groceries for her kitchen— _"What do you mean you didn't get groceries? You went on a date—” “It wasn’t a date.” “—but you didn't buy bread?!"_ —and then her upturning of Mina's entire closet before declaring that she needed a new outfit for the gallery night. She talked all the while, Mina mostly humming or nodding in response when it seemed appropriate. On the phone, Lucy was manageable. In person, she was often a tornado with big blonde curls. It didn’t help that this was the first they’d seen of each other since the night Mina had been attacked; she was a bit more wound-up than usual. Not that Mina really minded. Lucy meant well, after all.

When Lucy finally stopped to take a breath, Mina spoke up. "Hey, Luce, since my right hand's out of action for a while, would you mind coming over before the gallery thing and helping me get ready?"

Lucy's face lit up. From her expression, Mina might as well have asked her to be the maid of honor at her nonexistent wedding. She walked over, put a hand on Mina's shoulder, looked her in the eyes, and said very seriously, "Nothing would make me happier."

Then she went back to talking as she carefully put all of Mina's clothes back in her closet— _"You can't do it anyway, not with that sling."_ —, and Mina went back to half-listening as she sort of doodled in her sketchbook.

"I'm taking you shopping next week after that sling is gone," Lucy said.

"Okay, sounds good." She looked over at her. "I think he likes my ass."

"Mina, even straight women like your ass." She grinned from her place near the door, slinging her jacket back over her shoulders. "But I think I can work with that." She walked back over and kissed Mina on the forehead. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Please and thank you. See you, sis."

"Love you, sis."

After Lucy left, the apartment seemed much emptier, more echoey. It left her alone with her thoughts once more, and they drifted towards Eddie saying he'd call her. Not that she was overly surprised that he hadn't done so yet; after all, he had a job that a sudden injury hadn't put on hold. And what did she have? A useless arm and her internet connection.

He'd call, she knew he would. And so she was prepared to wait.

Eddie knew that he really _had_ no more time to wait. Tomorrow night was dinner with Anne and Dan, and they couldn't cancel or reschedule. Venom wouldn't let them. And if Eddie were honest, he didn't want to. He looked forward to their monthly dinners together. It felt like family. Even if it hurt a bit that Anne was happy and it wasn't with him. But, hey, she was happy, and that was what he wanted. Even if Venom wasn't quite ready to let her go.

With a hissing huff and a roll of his eyes—which sort of rolled his whole head—Venom drifted back closer to Eddie. The man was once again staring at his phone like it were some dangerous thing.

_"If you are going to call her, then call her. Stop being a pussy."_

"Shut up."

 _"If you're not going to do it, why don't we watch more of_ The Addams Family _?"_

"I'm going to do it,” he insisted.

_"You've been ‘going to do it’ for three hours."_

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

Venom was quiet for a moment, then asked, _"Would it help if I dared you to do it?"_

"Jesus, I'm not a kid."

_"You sure? 'Cause you're sure as hell acting like one. You're also wasting a shitton of time."_

Eddie pressed the heel of his hand against one of his eyes. "You're right, you're right."

_"Not that I care, but just fucking do it already."_

Eddie raised a brow. "You sure you don't care?"

_"No. I'd still eat her brain, given the opportunity."_

"I...don't know if I believe you."

_"You're stalling."_

"Shut _up_!"

_"Not until you fucking call her and get it over with!"_

He held up his phone for Venom to see. "Fine! Fine! See? See that line there? I click that, and it'll call her."

_"I know how your phone works, asshole."_

"I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna click it."

_"Then do it!"_

"I'm gonna!"

Venom gave a gravelly sigh, and shot a tendril forward to the line that said "Mina". _"There."_

Eddie almost dropped his phone as he scrambled to turn it over. "Shit!" He pressed it to his ear. Still ringing. "Why'd you do that?" he hissed.

_"Because you were pissing me off."_

Mina was just trying to decide what sitcom to background-marathon next when her phone started ringing. Her stomach did a flip when she picked it up and saw the caller ID.

"Oh my god," she said, bolting up off the couch. "Fuck. Oh, god, I should answer, right? Yeah, that'd be good."

Her dogs just rolled their eyes up at her, looking exhausted at this whole thing already.

She cleared her throat, hit the green button, and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?" Old habits die hard. She knew who it was and still answered the phone like she had no idea, as if caller ID hadn't existed for most of her adult life.

"Hi."

A beat of silence.

"Uh, hi, it's me— Um, I mean, it's Eddie," he stammered and thumped his head with the heel of his palm. God, he sounded stupid.

Venom just snickered and went back to devouring the leftovers in their fridge.

"How— How are you?" he asked, hand on his hip. He was looking out the window, not really seeing anything, and then decided to sit down on the edge of his bed, heart pounding in his throat and making him feel sick. Either that or it was the combination of two-day-old wonton and sauerkraut currently settling in his stomach.

She turned her smile to her dogs, excitedly mouthing, "He called! He called!"

They, again, just looked bored. And maybe a little hungry. But then they always looked hungry.

"I'm good. I just called, um, because I was wondering if maybe you would be... Well, there's this Taiwanese place uptown that I've been meaning to try and, uh...I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go. If you like that sort of thing. It's basically Chinese food. I mean, it really is just Chinese food, but like with a few different sauces?" He scratched his head, anxiety bubbling in his stomach along with the nausea from Venom's overeating and irritability. "O-Or we could go somewhere else. I'm really not all that picky with food." Given the fact that he had a parasitic alien living inside of him that regularly ate people, he couldn't be.

Her lips pressed together for a moment, then she decided to let on that she was grinning. "Why, Eddie Brock, are you asking me out on a date?"

His brain short-circuited, and he shot up from the bed. "Wh- Uh, well I thought... I mean... Uh... Um..."

From the kitchen came, _"YES!"_ sudden and deep, making Eddie jump.

"Y-Yes. I am."

Mina couldn’t help but laugh a little. God, he was a flustered mess. It was adorable. “In that case, I wholeheartedly accept. Taiwanese sounds great.”

"Yeah? Great! Um, do you want to meet? We could share a cab..."

Venom slinked back closer, the tension of the line connecting them easing as he did.

 _"What about your motorcycle?"_ he asked, voice a deep, gravelly purr.

Eddie shot him a glare, knowing that she could probably hear the other voice over the line. "I, uh, have a motorcycle, but, considering your arm...." It wasn't exactly doable transportation, and Venom knew it. His cheeky grin was proof enough of that, even if he hadn't been aware that he knew everything Eddie knew.

She didn’t verbally question what sounded like another voice on the line, and shook her head a little, as if she’d been imagining it. Phones echoed weird sometimes anyway, right? Yeah, that had to be it.

“As good as that sounds—and I mean that sincerely—” Riding on his motorcycle, holding onto him? Hell yeah, that sounded good. “—I’d better stick with cabs, at least until I get this cast off. But the second this thing is off, you’re taking me for a ride, mister.”

Collapsing onto the bed again, he let out a little sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that." He would need to get a helmet for her. He didn't wear them anymore, and he’d never gotten the helmet from Anne because... Well... Just because.

He laid back and ran a hand through his hair and then down his chest. "So, want to meet at the restaurant around seven?"

“Yeah, sounds good. Text me the address and I’ll be there.” She was practically bursting, already trying to figure out something to wear.

"Okay, will do." A pause. "So, um... Yeah, see you later tonight. Bye." He waited for her response said goodbye at least two more times and then hung up and immediately texted her the address of the restaurant.

Venom hovered over Eddie where the man laid on the bed. _"I can't believe you did that."_

Eddie opened his eyes and looked up at the inky black face full of teeth hovering above him. "What? Asked her out? Why? You're the one who pushed the button."

Venom quivered and made an annoyed sucking sound before sinking back into Eddie.

Upon receiving Eddie’s text, Mina plugged the address into her maps app to see how much time she’d have to get ready and get there on time. Luckily, with only the one arm at the moment, it kept her from taking too long with, well, much of anything. It was too much energy to go through her entire closet or do different makeup looks. If she did, she’d have to take breaks to rest, and who had the patience for that?

After a little while, she decided she couldn't just keep talking to herself as she got ready, so she called her sister and put her on speakerphone while she bustled about her room. At least then someone would respond to her mutterings.

"Surprised you didn't propose on the spot when he said he has a motorcycle."

"Oh, shut up." She grinned. "There's still time; I can't even ride it safely yet, after all."

"You dork. You going all-out?"

"As all-out as I can go at the moment. Which isn't really all-out, but oh well. Not like we're going somewhere that charges you $45 for a salad."

"Ugh, those places are so stuffy."

Mina looked at her phone from across the room as she unfolded her shirt—a soft heather gray one that hugged her a little more tightly than the last one he'd seen her in. Plus it let a couple of her tattoos peek up from under the shirt and where they reached towards her collarbones. "Aren’t you and Bev regulars at one of those places?"

A beat of silence. "Well, yeah, but it’s still stuffy."

She rolled her eyes and carefully pulled her shirt over her head before sitting down in front of her mirror. She'd discovered three days ago that there was no hope for covering up the scrape along her cheekbone. Makeup only made it look worse or irritated it. At least Eddie knew where it had come from. Besides, she thought it paired nicely with her short, just-past-her-chin-length hair. It made her look kinda rough-and-tumble.

"Are you wearing a dress?"

"Nah, going for jeans. The dark blue ones." Her beloved black ones would have to stay home until she got around to doing laundry.

Lucy smirked. "I guess you gotta play to your strengths..."

"If that's a remark about my ass, I accept the compliment."

She laughed. "I wish I was there to help, sis."

"Luce, it's not like it's my first ever date. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, but...he's really cute. Definitely your type."

Mina paused, looking at her phone again, makeup brush in hand. "Did you google him?"

"Oh, like you hadn't already."

"...Well, that's neither here nor there."

Lucy laughed, and then the sound of a door closing came from her side of the conversation. "Oh, Bev just got home. Be safe, okay? And text me later?"

"Will do. Have a good night, sis. And tell Bev ‘hi’ from me."

"I will! Love you!"

"Love you too."

Mina slouched forward, elbow on her vanity, looked at her reflection for a long moment, then smoothed a hand over her hair before continuing with her makeup. Like she'd said, it wasn't her first date ever, but...it still felt nice to be going on a first date again. It felt normal. Even the butterflies swarming in her gut felt...well, perhaps not “normal”, but familiar. A nice familiar.

Eddie was going through his own ritual of preparation, which mostly consisted of panic.

It may have been a stereotype that women took too long in the bathroom, but men took just as long or longer when preparing for a date. Especially if they really liked the person.

He stood in the bathroom looking at his reflection, making a few faces into the mirror.

What the hell even was his hair? He couldn't do a damn thing with it.

He had laid out a pair of his nicest jeans, which still meant they had at least two small holes in them. When had he gotten caught in the millennial trap of worn-and-torn jeans?

He stood back, looking over his clothing selection. Okay. Jeans, check. Good underwear—strictly for his own self-esteem—, check. Black socks—because fancy—, check. Shirt…?

He looked through the suitcase that acted as his closet. He did have a narrow closet, but he didn't (yet) have hangers.

"I can't believe I don’t have any good shirts," he huffed. He tossed every single one he picked up, and felt a sense of dread settling in his gut. Or maybe that was Venom. Eh, same thing.

He was getting to the point where he was tempted to go and borrow a shirt from Dan. Surely, the man had something nice? He was a doctor, after all. But of course, there was the chest width issue. Dan was kind of... Well, he was a bit twiggier than Eddie.

By that point, Venom was getting sick of Eddie's panicking. So the symbiote slinked across his bare torso, covering him from collarbone to pant-line and wrist-line in inky black material.

Eddie’s brows rose in surprise as he looked down at himself.

_“Now we can go to food, yes?”_

He gave a little chuckle, nerves calmed for a brief moment. “Yes, now we can go.”

Mina turned her phone over and over in her hand as she waited in the lobby for her cab, tapping her nails quietly against the case to keep from messing with her face or her hair.

Her makeup looked fine, as she kept telling herself. Her hair looked fine. Her outfit was casual but neat. She didn't have anything to be nervous about. Besides, they'd basically been on a date already, hadn't they? Sort of? It hadn't been planned, but still. Right?

She jumped when her phone buzzed in her hand. The cab had arrived, and was waiting parked against the curb outside. God, how the time was flying. But she supposed that's what she got for having such a preoccupied mind.

She slid one arm into her jacket—a dusty pink, faux leather—, and swung the other half up over her shoulder. She tried not to run down the stairs as she left the building and practically jumped into the back of the cab. _Jesus, chill,_ she told herself. _You'll get there soon enough._

Eddie bounced his leg as he sat in the back of his own cab. He was still surprised by the sudden show of consideration from Venom; he was thrilled, but also nervous that he would pull some shit at dinner.

He gave a little sigh. As if he needed anything else to roil his nerves, now he was wearing an alien symbiote as a shirt. If that was the worst thing that happened on their first date, though, maybe he'd finally caught a break. And he hoped that, if he promised him some exercise after dinner, he would behave.

Mina arrived at the restaurant shortly before him. She was still standing just inside the door when he got there, scanning over the tables for his familiar face.

He stepped in, and felt his stomach squirm—not necessarily in a bad way. "Hi," he said as he stepped closer, not wanting to startle her. "Hope you havent been waiting long."

She turned and beamed at him. "Hi. No, I just got here, too."

"Oh, good. I'm glad."

God, that black shirt. She was being tested, she knew it. "It's good to see you. You look great."

_"She thinks we look good. You're welcome. You owe me, bitch."_

He smiled, mostly ignoring Venom. “Thanks, you do, too.”

Mina slid her jacket off as a waiter set glasses of water down in front of them. "So, anything exciting happen to you the last couple days? Come to anyone else's rescue?" she asked with a little smirk.

He thought about it just a second. They had eaten a guy, but, other than that, things had been quiet. Mostly eating take-out and binging old _Doctor Who_ episodes.

He scrunched up one corner of his mouth and shook his head. "No, not really. No more heroics," he said with a chuckle.

She chuckled back. "I'm sure the time will come around again. Hell, maybe I'll get mugged on the way home." Joking seemed to be her only way to talk about it without screaming, but she'd come to terms with that sort of thing ages ago. It wasn't a healthy coping mechanism (as her brother loved to remind her), but that wasn't about to stop her.

"Nonsense. I'll make sure you get home safe," he said, leaning forward a little on the table.

She grinned. “I figured you would.”

The waiter set their tea pot on the table and he glanced at it. "Tea?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, sliding the small white cup next to her water closer to the tea pot. She watched him pour it, nodded when he asked if she wanted sugar—"One cube please."—, and thanked him when he carefully slid the cup back over her. God, his shirt was tight. It almost looked like it could've been a second skin. She was doing her best not to stare, but...damn.

She blew on the tea before taking a sip, and looked at him over the lip of the cup. "You sounded a little nervous on the phone earlier," she commented, though her tone wasn't so much critical as it was curious. She gave another chuckle to reassure him of that. "Do I intimidate you that much?"

He let out a nervous puff. "No, what? No. Um..." He rubbed his neck. "I'm, like, eight months out of a...three-ish-year relationship so… I'm just really out of practice."

"Oh, I'm sorry," was all she said at first. Then she shifted a little in her seat, setting her cup down. "And, sorry if this sounds weird, but I, uh, had a feeling it was something like that. If it helps anything, I'm..." She pressed her lips together, thinking. She didn’t actually need to think about it, but he didn’t know that. "...going on about five years since my last legit relationship. Had a couple flings since then, but, y'know, nothing that really stuck."

He nodded. "Yeah, I... I get it." He chuckled quietly. "It sucks." Then he looked at her. "But, hey, at least we can both enjoy tonight."

She smiled again. "Yeah, we definitely can." Her fingers moved on the tabletop, almost unconsciously, like she was going to reach for his hand but had stopped herself. Instead, she moved her tea aside and picked up her menu, unfolding it on the table. Then she tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced at him. "I'm really glad you asked me out, Eddie."

He picked up his own menu. “I’m glad I did, too,” he said with a crooked little smile. Now that they had already broken rule number one of first dates, he supposed they should order something.

But, if they were going to break any rules of first dates, she was glad it happened over tea before they'd even ordered. Better to get that nonsense out of the way sooner rather than later, as she saw it.

She couldn't remember ever having Taiwanese food, but, like he’d said, there seemed to be enough similarity (in content, at least, if not in execution) to other dishes she'd had at Chinese places to make guesses as to what would be good.

Eddie ordered the duck and the beef and broccoli meal when the waiter came to take their order.

She ordered a chicken dish with bamboo shoots and bell peppers that sounded plenty spicy enough to satisfy her craving. When the waiter left, she looked at Eddie again and quirked a brow. "No four entrees for you this time?"

He blushed. "Oh, uh, no." Having so recently eaten, he felt that he could get away with only two. Especially since he planned to let Venom get exercise later.

She chuckled. "I'm just messin' with you, Eddie. And I'm more impressed than anything else, if it makes you feel better."

He shifted in his seat and smiled a little. "Fast metabolism."

_"Fast metabolism, my ass."_

"I believe it." She downed the rest of her tea, not unlike it was a shot of liquor she was pounding back at a bar, before speaking again. "Also sorry if I seem kinda, uh, hyperactive. I tend to talk and just...not stop when I'm nervous." She blinked. "Not to imply that you're making me nervous."

"No, it's alright, really," he assured with a little nod. "First dates can be nerve-wracking. ...I'm nervous too, if it helps."

She gave a nod back, smiling. "Oh, good, then we'll just both feed off of each other's nerves and...maybe balance each other out, somehow."

“Ha, maybe." Eddie knew he was a mess, but he really didn't know the depths of it. He supposed that's what Anne was there for.

When their food came and while they were eating, they got onto the topic of work. Eddie asked her about her art, and he told her about some of his adventures in New York.

"It sounds like you live—or lived—much more dangerously than I do," she said. "I think the scariest my work gets is when I have to use an exacto-knife." She tilted her head to the side. "Or when a client gets creepy or rude. But that's about it. Luckily the exacto-knife doesn't often show its face since I mostly work in paints."

"Ah, nah, it's not really...dangerous journalism. Well..." He rolled his eyes a little and leaned his folded arms on the table. "Okay, maybe it _is_ a little dangerous, but what I do isn't like what the boys in the Middle East are doing. Now _that's_ dangerous." War journalism was life-threatening. He was just ranting about the homeless and the economy.

"Well, I'm glad you're on the lesser side of the danger. I won't lose sleep worrying about you chasing down terrorists or something for an exclusive interview."

"Well, now, I never said I don't chase down terrorists," he said with an amused hum. "I am a definite believer that the dangers at home are the ones we should be talking about." He would consider Drake to have been a terrorist, but of course he couldn't really write about all the details that might actually get him labeled as such. That would mean divulging some...delicate information that the wider public wasn’t prepared to know.

"Oh, most definitely. Some people wanna act like things are so perfect here and make the rest of the world out to be backwards or behind, when that...is very much not the case." Her tone was still conversational, but there was a slight exhausted edge to it—one that he could very much relate to.

He nodded. “Exactly.”

She looked up from her plate, giving him a small smile. "I have this feeling that, if anyone's gonna finally get people listening about these things, it might just be you. Of course, maybe I'm just a little biased—having read some of your work—" Okay, quite a bit of it. "—and now knowing you."

"You google-stalked me, huh?" he asked with a grin, picking up a bit more of the leftovers on his plate and munching on it.

She grinned back, swirling the ice remnants in her water glass. "Hmm, maybe just a little. You might say I couldn't help myself." She paused a moment. "I also couldn't sleep, so that's my other excuse."

"Oh, yeah, I’ve been there. More than once. Got me in some pretty wicked trouble a few times," he said, and scratched behind his ear in a show of nerves. "Not sleeping is just...not good. Too easy to get in trouble."

"You're telling me," she said with a weak chuckle. "Lost a couple jobs that way."

She tried to be subtle about it since he couldn’t yet see them, but her eyes shifted to look at the waiter approaching with their check. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Are we gonna start all this out with a habit of fighting over the check?" she asked with a grin as the waiter set the slip of paper on the edge of their table.

"Well, I mean..." His hand slid towards it. "...last time, you were paying me back. So, no hard feelings, but this time it's a date, and I'm the one who asked you out, so I ought to be the one to pay."

She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, fine, if you insist," she said, and reached forward to push the receipt towards him. Their fingers brushed, and she felt her stomach do a little flip. God, was he always just that warm? Damn.

He took it and glanced at it. _Yikes._

_"Do we have enough money? We took the money from that last man’s wallet—"_

_Yeah, which I am still super uncomfortable with by the way... But, uh, yeah... Yeah, barely._ Eddie scooted out of the booth and stood, smiling down at her. "I'll go get you a box and be right back."

"Thanks," she said, and waited until he'd passed to start gathering up her things. She took a moment to check her phone. One text from Lucy wishing her luck on the date, one from Trevor with a question about gallery night, and another apology from Jonathan. He also hoped she was having a good night. She let out a quiet, humorless laugh before stuffing her phone back in her purse.

"He's gonna give me an ulcer," she mumbled.

 _"Anything left?"_ Venom asked as Eddied closed up his wallet and carried the box back to the table.

_Nope. Looks like you're the only one eating after tomorrow night._

_"Unacceptable."_

"Here you go." He set the box down. "Do you want to take all of this?" he asked, hovering.

"Oh, sure," she replied. Then she thought for a minute as he put the food in the box for her. "Y'know, I'm so bad about leftovers. You wanna take it?" She smiled. "I promise I don't have a cold or anything."

_"Free non-human food! Breakfast! Take it! TAKE IT!"_

"Oh, no, I couldn't...." It _would_ cover breakfast.

“I insist," she replied, then picked up the box as she stood and pushed it against his chest with another smile. "Please."

His smile was small, but genuine.

_"BONUS!"_

"Thanks, Mina." He took the box and lead the way out to the sidewalk.

They wound up walking together a ways, just to walk off the food a little, and to keep the evening going a bit longer.

She’d been quietly hoping that one of them would suggest taking a walk, but was even more pleased to discover that, apparently, neither of them needed to.

Their free hands swung closer and closer to each other the farther they walked, and she tried to resist the urge to just reach out and take his hand as they talked.

"So, you thinking about coming to our gallery night next week?" She tried not to sound too eager or hopeful; she knew it wasn't everyone's sort of thing.

"Yeah, actually. I was going to ask what kind of, uh... What kind of gig is it? Should I dress up?" He hadn’t been to an art gallery event before, and he was pretty sure going in ripped jeans and a tattered shirt wasn’t acceptable.

She tried to keep from beaming, pressing her lips together for a moment before she replied. "I sometimes dress up, and wear an actual dress, but then I play host a lot of the time. But, uh, basically what I'm wearing now—this sort of thing is fine. So not formal, and tending towards casual." She chuckled. "If that makes any sense at all."

"Yeah, it does." So nicer than what he had.

_"Hey!"_

"I'll definitely be there."

She smiled up at him. "Great." Then she chuckled. "You planning on google-stalking me at all in preparation?"

"I thought about it,” he admitted with a smile. “But no. I thought if I did, then I'd see the art online, and, eh…” He gave a small shrug. “I wanna see it in person."

"I, uh..." She chuckled again. "I've never gotten an answer like that before. I think that's really...sweet of you."

Their hands had another very-near miss.

"I guess I just want my reaction to be genuine. You deserve my honest opinion," he said, extending his pinky slightly to brush the side of her hand.

Her stomach flipped again, both because of his touch and because of what he’d said. "That really means a lot to me, so...thank you." God, did she sound as breathless as she felt? She hoped not; that'd be pathetic.

She stretched her pinky out towards his, hooking them together and feeling her heart pick up its pace a bit.

 _"Stop it!"_ Venom snarled, and jerked Eddie's hand back away from her.

“Uh…” His ears turned pink and he glanced down. “So, want to ride back to your apartment together? Make sure that you get there safe?"

She blinked at him for a moment. "Uh, sure, yeah. I'd appreciate it." She seemed more confused than hurt, and cast him one last look before she said, "I'll go try to flag one down," and stepped away towards the curb. Maybe he wasn't feeling well. Or maybe he was just a little gun-shy. It _had_ been a long relationship he'd gotten out of... She knew all too well what that could be like.

_What the fuck? You're making me look an asshole!_

Silence. Of course.

Eddie gave a quiet sigh before joining Mina at the edge of the curb.

When a cab pulled over, he leaned forward and opened the door for her. She thanked him and slid inside, and he followed after her.

They didn't speak for a couple blocks, and then she asked, "You feeling okay, Eddie?"

He looked at her, nodding. "Yeah, just...first date, y’know?" Not wanting to cross any boundaries was a good excuse. Especially considering he couldn't tell her that he had a parasite inside him who...apparently wasn't all about pinky-holding? "And considering…” His gaze shifted to her injured arm. “Well, I just want to be considerate."

She nodded back. "I understand. And appreciate the thought," she said, lifting her encased arm slightly. Then she turned in her seat a little to face him better. "And, hey, we don't have to rush into anything at all. So, y'know...no pressure."

He nodded and smiled. "Hey, don't worry about me. You're the one I want to make sure has both feet firmly on the ground before we go rushing into anything," he joked. After what she had been through, it was the least he could do.

She smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Probably a good idea." She didn’t say so, since he was sort of joking, but she had been known to rush into things before, usually with underwhelming or even disastrous consequences. So if they both had to be patient for a little while, she could live with that. Though she did cast a flickering glance towards their hands sitting next to each other on the seat between them. He looked like a good hand-holder. Hell, he looked like a good everything, now that she thought about it. Not that she said any of that, either.

When they arrived at her building, he got out with her and walked her to the front steps.

"Nice building."

"Yeah, it's not bad," she joked, a little embarrassed. "I've got the top floor to myself. Well, myself and hundreds of canvases."

"That's pretty nice,” he said, still looking up at the building.

She looked at him, a little smile on her face. She wanted to invite him up, offer him a drink, just to make the date last that much longer... But they'd agreed to take it slow.

"Hey, before you go...can I ask you something? And there's no obligation paired with this question; I'm just curious."

He looked back at her now, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

"Are you a hugger?" She spoke quickly after that. "It's just something I ask most of the people I know. I'm big on hugs, but I never wanna assume and make things awkward, so..." She could feel her cheeks flushing a little. "Just wanted to ask. For future reference."

"Yes."

_"No!"_

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Yeah, I like hugs."

She couldn't help but smile back. "Good. I-I'm glad," she said, feeling a little breathless again. Then she cleared her throat, and extended her hand towards him. "I had a really good time tonight, Eddie."

He glanced at her hand and thought, _Fuck it_ , and leaned in and hugged her. It was careful, since he had to be mindful of her sling, but a hug nonetheless.

 _"You're a bitch,"_ Venom hissed, but Eddie ignored him.

Mina was stunned for only the briefest of moments before she leaned into him, good arm reaching around to grip at the back of his jacket. She didn't even try to hide her smile. He was just as warm as she'd suspected, and he smelled even better. She even gave a small, pleased hum for good measure; it had practically been forced out of her by her heart thrumming in her chest.

He released her before Venom could get any ideas, and smiled at her. "I hope that you have a good night, Mina. And I hope you had a good time at dinner. I know I enjoyed it."

"I did," she replied, big smile still plastered on her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I really did. Everything was great." She chuckled. "I'm glad you had a good time too, because I'm gonna give you the go-ahead to ask me out again anytime you like." He had the busier schedule for the time being, so it made sense to wait for him to have free time rather than her make guesses and potentially make things awkward for both of them.

He blinked, more surprised than he’d likely anticipated. Venom was seething, but he was...excited.

"I will take you up on that, Miss Mina," he said with a crooked smile as he stepped back, then stopped with a hand on top of the cab door. "Have a good night."

"You too, Eddie," she said, and waved until the cab pulled away.

A wide smile split her face again as she hopped up the front steps and practically ran up the stairs to her apartment. Her face was more than flushed now, but she didn't care. God, she couldn't remember the last time a hug had felt that good. Especially on a first date.

Her dogs lifted their heads and looked at her as she tossed her purse and jacket on the couch. She put her hand on her hip and looked at them. "Ladies, you know that scene in _Lady Bird_ where she's running in the street after her first kiss, and just stops and yells because she's so happy?"

They blinked at her.

She waved a hand at them. "Ah, Lucy'll know what I mean."

Eddie was surprised to find when he got home that the cab fare was already paid for, but just huffed and smiled. Seemed she was sneaky.

"Alright, so, I promised we would do something. So what do you want to do?"

Silence.

"V? Oh, come on. I know you hate not being able to show yourself, but you sort of did tonight, since you were my shirt and all."

Another beat of silence before Venom finally replied, _"That's not the same thing, and you know it."_ He slipped off of Eddie's torso and arms, disappearing back into him completely.

"Aw, c'mon, V. There's probably lots of bad guys out there on the streets tonight." He was in a great mood, probably the best mood he'd been in in some time. He didn’t even mind being bare from the navel up as they climbed the stairs. Hell, he felt like he could even brave his fear of heights without complaint. And now that he had all this energy, Venom was choosing to be a brat? Naturally.

"You're really going to mope? When we have the whole run of the city?" he asked, opening their door going inside. He grabbed a hoodie from a hook on the wall and pulled it over his head.

The symbiote was quiet again, but, just as Eddie opened his mouth to try to make another convincing statement, he replied, _"Fine. Let's go, Eddie."_ Miffed as he was, he couldn't completely bring himself to pass up the chance to run around the city with Eddie. Plus he knew Eddie would keep pestering him until he agreed. Might as well not be more annoyed by the time they went to sleep.

Eddie’s smile widened. “Alright, let’s go!”

When they got to the rooftop, Venom encased him. The sensation hardly surprised him anymore—Venom taking control. Not that Eddie wasn't exactly _not_ in control. He was fully aware and had some input but... It was more like being a backseat driver than anything else.

As Venom looked out over the rooftops surrounding them, Eddie ventured, _"By the way, you gonna tell me what that was all about back there?"_

Venom didn't reply, and instead jumped from their building down onto a shorter one—likely just to scare the hell out of Eddie. He couldn't really make him suffer, but at least he could give him a good scare or two as payback.

Mina spent most of the rest of her evening on the phone with Lucy, regaling her with the goings-on of her date. She almost sounded more thrilled than Mina herself felt, though that hardly seemed possible. But Lucy did gush loud enough for her dogs to hear when she told her the thing Eddie had said about wanting to see her art in person first rather than a scan of it online.

"God, that's cute."

"Right?! Fuck."

"You two going out again?"

"We better be," she said with a grin. "I told him I very much was interested in a second date, so...now it's time to play the waiting game again."

"Does that mean you have time to come shopping with your beloved baby sister?"

She chuckled. "Always, my dear. Especially now that I know he's coming to the gallery, I'll need all the help I can get."

They agreed to go as soon as Mina was comfortable going out without her sling. Even with the cast, maneuvering around stores would be a little easier if she had a little more mobility.

After they hung up, she took her dogs out, and started getting ready for bed—humming to herself all the while.

She was still humming when she was crawling into bed, and started to wonder if she'd even be able to sleep. Five minutes later, she was out like a light.

It was nearly three in the morning when Venom climbed back through their window. Eddie was long since asleep, nestled safely inside the symbiote.

He had gotten some payback, scaring the wits out of Eddie more than once. But things had calmed around midnight, and he’d decided to helped Eddie along to sleep. He could patrol the city and look for bad guys on his own. But, with Eddie asleep and unable to be consulted, he was sure to look for only the most obvious of the obvious bad guys to eat.

Unlike humans, his kind didn't sleep—not like this, anyway. But he knew Eddie required it, and he ensured that he got all he needed. Once they'd managed to settle fully into each other, Eddie had started getting the best sleep of his life.

At the end of the day, having a symbiote in his head definitely had some benefits.

He climbed onto the bed and laid the man down before sinking back into him—slinking to settle behind his sternum, nestled close and safe. A few inky tendrils remained a moment or two, trailing slower along Eddie's neck and arm before disappearing beneath his skin.

Finally, just the two of them, and peaceful quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you again to everyone's positive responses to this story! uploading chapters is now the highlight of my week. ;u;
> 
> also, if any of you were expecting these chapter titles to have a uniform format or anything, I'll let you in on a secret: I SUCK at naming chapters. my co-author is much better, but I'm the one uploading this, so the responsibility falls to me. regardless of that failing, we hope you enjoyed this (slightly shorter) chapter!


	4. Something Like Family

Mina had been wearing her sling faithfully for five full days, and was trying not to let that antsy feeling get to her—she was a homebody by nature, after all. But having to rely, not only on her sister for a handful of basic things, but also solely on her left arm was starting to bum her out. Sure, she probably deserved an extended break from her work, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

As best she could that morning, she studied her shoulder in the mirror. The bruises were fading, yellow now instead of purple, and it wasn't bothering her as much. So, just for that day around her apartment, and after promising that she wasn't about to do anything too strenuous, she decided to go without the sling. While the weight of her arm swinging at her side felt a little odd at first, it felt good to have more movement of her arm again. She had only been supposed to wear it for a couple more days anyway; surely, it'd be fine.

As she went about her day, her pleased humming from the night before returned. If she couldn't work, at least she could reflect on the night before as much as she wanted and for as long as she wanted. Small pleasures and all that.

As was expected the next morning they were starved. They were always starved. Eddie was pretty much used to it by now.

He shuffled through his morning routine before collapsing onto the sofa to eat the leftovers Mina had sent with them. "Find any bad guys after I fell asleep?" he asked between bites.

 _"Hmm, one or two,"_ Venom replied. _"Really bad guys, of course."_

Eddie gave a little chuckle. "Good."

Around the same time, Mina was fiddling with her phone again and decided to send Eddie a text. If it would likely be a few days before they saw each other again, at least there was texting. Ordinarily, her days would've been occupied enough that she would've distracted herself from such thoughts, but…

_good morning!_ she typed. _hope you slept well. just wanted to say again what a good time I had last night, and that I hope you have a good day today!_

She added a smiley emoji rather than her usual hearts. She texted everyone hearts—even her brother occasionally when he was pissing her off. But she resisted this time. Self-control, Mina, self-control.

Eddie and Venom were watching their morning television when Eddie's phone vibrated. He leaned forward and scooped it off of the coffee table, and couldn’t help but smile when he saw who the message was from.

_Good morning, beautiful._ He deleted the “beautiful” part before continuing. _I hope you slept well. I sure did._

Mina smiled when he responded so quickly. _like a rock, thank you!_ She glanced at her TV. _and what have you got going on today, mister?_

 _Nothing really. At least till later tonight. Going to dinner at a friends house,_ he sent.

_ah, I hope that goes well! I as well am doing nothing. though I am attempting a day without my arm in the sling. so far so good!_

_Oh, well, I'll be seeing Dr. Dan later, so if you have any questions I can pass them along,_ he offered.

_“No, absolutely not. She is not pseudo-coming on our dinner date tonight!"_

Eddie’s brow furrowed. “Dinner _date_?”

Mina replied, _oh, thanks! I’ll let you know if I think of anything._

_"Yes! We had pre-established plans with Anne and her boy-toy Dan,"_ Venom hissed.

Boy-toy? “Yeah, I know,” he replied, then gave a sort of glare that he hoped Venom could sense. “You’re lucky I don’t invite actually Mina along.”

_“...You wouldn’t.”_

He held up his phone. “You wanna test me?”

_"It is less than twelve hours to dinner! It would be rude to suddenly invite another guest! A huge inconvenience to Anne!"_

“Which is exactly why I won’t do it. But you are sorely tempting me, V.” He gave a quiet huff. “You gonna talk about last night yet?”

 _"We don't know what you're talking about,"_ Venom replied simply.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Eddie snapped. “I... V, I just wanted to hold her hand and you freaked out. What the hell?”

 _"YOU DON'T NEED HER TO HOLD YOUR HAND!"_ Venom snapped loudly.

Eddie winced, putting one hand to his ear—as if that would help. “God, it’s not a ‘need’! It’s a ‘want’! I like her, and I want to hold her hand!” He held up his hands. “Possibly more, when she’s comfortable with it. What is your issue with this?!”

It should have been obvious; the fact that it wasn't was completely lost on Venom and they merely hissed and spluttered and then went silent. Anger bubbled and simmered in their guts, and out of spite—not that Eddie was aware of it—he ate a bit of his pancreas.

Eddie was quiet too for a time. A couple hours, in fact. Then his eyes widened with realization as he was laying out clothes for the dinner later. He’d been thinking about how they often spent time with Anne and Dan, but Venom suddenly saw Mina as some kind of threat. That’s when it hit him.

“Hey, V? Are... Are you jealous?”

Jealous? They considered that, and looked for...examples. There were few in the context for their current predicament, as Eddie was not, by nature, a jealous partner. The closest correlation he could come up with was related to work and opportunity, but not much related to important interpersonal relationships.

_"Maybe."_

Eddie sighed and sat down on their bed, pushing a hand through his hair. “Look, I... I know this is new. It’s kinda new for both of us, if you think about it. And I won’t pretend to know how long this thing with Mina is going to last, but I also won’t pretend like I don’t want it to happen. But, at the end of the day, we’re always gonna be ‘we’. We’re ‘us’, no matter what. Annie and Dan don’t change that, and neither will Mina. This is all different, I know, and I don’t even completely know what the hell I’m doing some of the time,” he said with a quiet laugh. “But...if it makes you feel any better, no one’s gonna come between us. And, for the time being, maybe Mina will just...add to it, if things go well. Okay?”

It wasn't okay. It was so far from okay Venom couldn't even think of a way to convey it to this dumb meat-sack.

Anne and Dan were different. They trusted Anne. They knew Anne. They knew that her intentions were wholly good. And they knew that, if Dan's were not, that Anne would end him before Venom had a chance. They could respect her for that alone, even if she was just a little lone human female.

But this new one? They didn't trust her. They didn't _know_ her. She might have ill intentions. She might try to hurt Eddie. What if she lulled him into a sense of security, and then bit his head off?! It could happen!

When Venom didn’t reply right away, Eddie continued, “And I know you said you don’t like her, but how do you know unless you get to know her?”

 _"Because... We can't get to know her,"_ he said, sulkily, before sinking deeper into Eddie and going quiet.

Eddie sighed again and ran a hand over his face. On some level, he got what Venom was saying. He got to know a host, or person, by inhabiting them, by leafing through their memories. It was just how he operated. But he wasn’t about to let him latch onto Mina just to get to know her. He’d have to live with doing that the old-fashioned human way. Or, as close to that as he could manage.

The day passed quieter than usual, not that that was initially a bad thing. Just different. Usually, Venom and Eddie chatted constantly. About this and that, whatever current thing they were watching. But, really, Eddie wound up having the whole afternoon to himself to get some research done. He even caught up on the news. Not that that was much fun.

But getting work done, not to mention getting ready for dinner, without a voice constantly chattering in his head? There’s something he never thought he’d experience again. Eddie knew the silent treatment couldn’t last forever, though. If there was one thing Venom liked more than eating humans, it was talking.

When they were about two blocks from Anne's on the motorcycle, Venom did pipe up again. _"Do you think Dan made the dessert himself this time? I hope it's chocolate mousse."_

Eddie gave a little chuckle, smile lingering. “With any luck, buddy...”

They parked along the curb, dismounted, and walked up the steps to ring the buzzer for Anne and Dan's place.

 _Anne and Dan's._ God, he still wasn't used to that. And, before too long, he’d have to get used to it being “Dr. and Mrs. Lewis’ place”. He let out a little puff of a sigh. There’d be time to properly reel about that inevitable reality later.

"Yes?" came Anne's voice over the intercom.

"Hey, Anne. Me— It's me, Eddie."

"Oh! Right on time." There was a buzz. "Come on up!"

He opened the door to go up the familiar steps. Whenever he was over, he always had to stop himself from reminiscing on when they’d picked the place, the furniture, arranged it all… Okay, so Annie had done most of the work with the first two, but she _had_ made him move all the furniture to where she knew it looked best. That totally counted as helping set up the place.

Not much had changed inside the townhouse since they’d broken up. A few pictures had been replaced, maybe some different towels and bedding... It almost felt like going back to your home after some time away, only to find everything had been moved 2 inches to the left. Familiar and strange all at once.

"Hi, Eddie, go ahead and hang up your jacket," Annie called from the kitchen, where she was pulling dinner from the oven—a roasted chicken with all the fixings.

“Okay,” he called back, doing as she said and trying to push away the once-scary hunger noises rattling around his head. “Smells delicious, Annie!” The impulse to call her pet names was still strong; luckily, he’d been able to cover it up most of the time. Mostly.

He made his way towards the kitchen. “Anything I can help with?”

"Yes, actually. Can you open the wine? Dan's picking up salad fixings on his way home from the hospital."

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” he replied, moving closer as she set the bottle and opener on the part of the counter nearest him. “How’s your week been going?”

"It's be fine," she said with a nod, carving the chicken like a champ. She never was afraid of getting her hands dirty. That was what Venom loved the most about her—she was no nonsense. "Working. How has yours been?" She side-eyed him while she carved. Dan had, of course, mentioned something, but hadn’t been able to give details.

"Oh, well, you know..." He twisted the wine-opener, giving a little shrug. "Work and all that. Mostly the usual."

She gave him another sidelong look.

He chuckled, pulling the cork out. "Okay, you got me." He never could get anything past her, even now. "You might say I, uh..." He smirked, thinking of how he'd phrased it the night before. "...dabbled in some heroics this week."

She arched a brow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied, setting the open bottle on the counter. "Just took a woman to the hospital. Some asshole broke her wrist and left her in an alley."

 _"He was delicious,"_ Venom mused.

"God, that's awful," Anne replied as she pulled down wine glasses from a cupboard. "Dan mentioned something about seeing you the other day, but he couldn't exactly give me details."

"I figured he’d mention it, yeah," Eddie replied, leaning against the counter.

"Do you know if she's doing okay?"

"Oh, yeah, she's fine. Dan did a great job on her arm, and today she's been trying out not wearing the sling he gave her."

"I thought I told her to wear it a full week," came Dan's voice from near the front door.

"Hi, sweetie," Anne called.

Eddie chuckled as Dan came into the kitchen. "I get the feeling she was going a little stir-crazy."

"Ah, that makes sense." He set a grocery bag on the counter, then leaned over and kissed Anne on the cheek before turning and clapping Eddie on the shoulder in greeting. "You see her again after that?"

Eddie shifted his weight. "Yeah, ran into her a couple times. We don't live too far from each other, turns out."

"Small world," Dan said, and picked up the wine glasses to take to the table. Eddie grabbed the bottle and did the same.

Anne lifted the block with the chicken on it and followed after them. "Well, then it sounds like you might've had the most exciting week out of all of us, Eddie."

He rubbed at the back of his neck, glancing at her before he said, "Yeah, uh... Well, it got a little more exciting, surprisingly."

_"Eddie—"_

"How so?" Dan asked.

_"They don't need to know—"_

"I, uh... I went on a date. Last night."

_"Motherfucker."_

Anne smiled brightly at him, and let out a surprised sound. "Oh? That's great!" And she meant it. It was obvious from her tone of voice and body language. "That's really great, Eddie. Did it go well?"

He couldn’t help but smile wider at her enthusiasm, tips of his ears turning pink. Venom continued to growl at the back of his skull, but he ignored him for now. “Yeah, it...it went really well, matter of fact. She’s pretty great.” It felt good to compliment her to someone who wasn’t going to threaten to eat his pancreas because of it.

"Good." Anne nodded, blonde hair falling over her shoulder slightly as she did. "Do you think that you'll be seeing her again?" she asked as the three of them sat down at the table. Technically, it was four of them, but then neither Anne nor Dan knew Venom was still around.

Eddie gave a little shrug. "She gave me permission to ask her out again, so I'm taking that as a good sign." He gave a crooked smile. "She also invited me to this art gallery thing of hers next week, so I'll definitely see her then, if not before."

Dan gave him a sort of pointed look. "What's her name?"

Venom started chuckling as Eddie's nerves began to rise.

"Just out of curiosity." Now there was knowing in his eyes. Dammit.

Eddie considered lying, but didn't quite have it in him to do so. "...Mina Bell."

Anne gave a little "ugh" noise. "That name is so cute that I _almost_ want to hate her outright."

Eddie looked back over to Dan, who'd pulled out his phone. "I knew it,” he said, dragging out the “I”. “So she's an artist, huh?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Eddie replied.

"Wait till you see what she looks like, honey."

Anne looked between the two of them now. "Wait, how do you know her—" She looked at Eddie, eyes wide. "Oh my god! The girl you found in the alley? Eddie, that's—" Dan slid his phone in front of her, a headshot of Mina filling up the screen, and Anne cut herself off. "Dammit. Okay, she's really pretty."

"I mean, can you blame him?" Dan asked.

Anne groaned again. "I guess not." She looked across the table at him, giving him a sort of crooked smile back. "Just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

Eddie was pink from the collarbone up—ears burning, mouth a drawn thin line, heart pattering quickly against his ribs. He just made an awkward sound in reply. God, it felt like freshman year of college all over again.

“Wow, you must really like her if you’re speechless,” Anne said, chuckling. “God, Eddie, breathe.”

 _“Yes, Eddie, breaaaathe!"_ Venom mocked, forcing Eddie's lungs to expand. In doing so, Eddie made a little wheezing noise.

Annie and Dan laughed, more at the sound than anything else, and Eddie continued to try to get himself to breathe.

He finally seemed to have regained control of his breathing by the time they’d finished their salads. Dan was serving out slices of the chicken when Eddie cleared his throat softly and said, “I don’t know if Dan told you, but I...I got the Save the Date.”

Anne looked up from her plate and met his gaze.

He shrugged. “One of us had to bring it up. And I just wanted to say...I’m really happy for you two.” Much as it pained Venom for him to say it.

The symbiote considered eating another bite of his pancreas while he slept.

Eddie knew Venom didn't understand—couldn't understand. Because Venom was so...different. So alien. There was no explaining that Eddie couldn't be what Anne needed. He couldn't make her the kind of happy that she needed. He could be her friend, though. And that was enough.

Even if it wasn’t enough for Venom, it was enough for Eddie to still have some presence in her life. He’d had to adjust to the idea of them no longer being engaged, adjust to the fact that they would no longer be getting married. He could and had done just that. But not being in her life at all... Those had been some of the worst months of his life. Like quitting smoking cold-turkey.

So he couldn’t be her husband. Fine. He couldn’t be her friend? He couldn’t even imagine going back to that. And so he listened to her and Dan talk about location options and bands and colors—because it was the least he could do. And he would just hug her and shake Dan’s hand when the dinner was over. She had moved on, and so would he. So would _they_.

Simple enough. For a human, anyway.

When dinner was over, it was a small relief—because dessert was next, and that was when Venom perked up.

"Honey, can you get the dessert from the kitchen?" Anne asked with a smile.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Dan had been sitting silent while Anne and Eddie talked; her saying his name seemed to have pulled from a reverie.

"Thank you, dear."

_"I hope it’s chocolate mousse. If he made it, we will let him have us."_

_Hmm?_

_“We will let him fuck us."_

Eddie blinked. "What?"

"What?" Anne asked looking up from her wine.

Eddie blinked at her, any sort of explanation fleeing from his mind. “Sorry, I, uh... Excuse me.” He got up and tried to move to the bathroom as casually as possible. Once inside with the door closed, he turned the sink on full power.

“We’d let him _what_?” he hissed at Venom.

 _“Is that not what you call it when feelings aren't exactly involved?"_ Venom asked. _"’Fucking’?"_

Eddie stuttered for a moment before he said, “What the— N-Not necessarily! I mean, they don’t have to be, but sometimes they are— It’s complicated. But my point is...why would we let him...do that?”

_"Because he is potentially interested? And chocolate? And fucking? I have rifled through your memories, and think that it is something that you enjoy?"_

Eddie’s flushed face skipped right over pink and jumped right to bright red. “I— Be that as it may— Fuck. I am not interested in Dan like that, god. And I’m pretty sure he’s not interested in me. Making dessert for all of us doesn’t mean he’s interested in _me_. And, even if he were interested in me, he’s with Annie. So— Fuck, this is basically pointless, oh my god.”

_"We have been testing it for the last several months. Given your memories and given memories of others, and the progression of Dan's behavior, we would disagree."_

He groaned now. “V, sometimes people are nice to you without wanting to sleep with you. Hate to break it to you, but that’s the case here. Dan doesn’t want to sleep with us.”

When they returned to the table, the scraps of dinner had been moved back to the kitchen. They knew that Anne would be packing them a to-go box—not because she knew about Venom, but because she always sent Eddie home with more food.

"Alright, I hope pie is okay," Dan said as he set the pie down on the table. It was a large, tall, rich-looking confection.

"Pie is always okay," Eddie replied.

Dan smiled down at the dessert. "It’s banana and chocolate cream."

"With chocolate shavings mixed in," Anne added. "Dan's been messing with the recipe."

Venom was practically screaming in delight, and might as well have been bouncing around Eddie’s skull at how many times the word “chocolate” was said. “Sounds amazing,” Eddie said with a big smile.

It _was_ amazing. It was light and thick and creamy and the crust was perfect—flaky but not crumbly, and soaked up the creamy flavors of the pie perfectly.

It seemed to be almost enough to satisfy Venom after what Eddie assumed was the perspective-shattering discovery that not every human was nice to each other solely because they wanted sex. And it was almost enough to make Eddie forget that Venom had even made the assumption in the first place.

Of course, Venom was no more convinced than before. And they would definitely still consider letting Dan fuck them. Cream was different than mousse, so there were stipulations. The symbiote had standards, after all.

As Eddie expected, the dinner did not end with the fucking that Venom had apparently been anticipating, but with the deciding of their next dinner night together. And Anne even wished him luck with Mina, and said she looked forward to meeting her. Eddie could feel the tips of his ears turning pink again, and managed out a genuine “thanks” around the embarrassed body language.

But Venom was not disappointed. He figured it wouldn’t happen immediately. After all, Dan had only been feeding them. There were other steps to be had. Again, standards. He’d just bring it up again another time when Eddie was least expecting it. That usually worked out well.

The pair descended the steps with their leftovers tucked into their jacket, and Eddie straddled the motorcycle and started it up with a kick. "So, what should we do with the rest of our night?"

Venom mulled on that for a moment. The pie had been delicious, possible even filling...

 _“_ Addams Family _. All night.”_

Eddie smiled, and pulled away from the curb, rumbling up along the road. He was full as well, contentedly so—nearly uncomfortably so, but not quite. "That sounds good, buddy." Relaxing on the sofa in boxers and a t-shirt, watching old black-and-white comedy? Perfect end to the day.

Several blocks away, Mina was doing just the same—sitting in her pajama shirt and underwear on her couch with a sitcom of the technicolor variety on the TV. She'd attempted some sketches with her left hand, but they looked like the work of a kindergartener. Okay, so maybe a kindergartener with a studied knowledge of art history, but a kindergartener nonetheless. For about the fifth time in her life, she considered practicing to become ambidextrous, as if this were incredibly likely to happen again.

It made her think of Eddie so earnestly insisting that he would get her home safely, and she started chuckling to herself. With any luck, maybe she'd have him escorting her home more often.

Eddie did manage to stay awake until about midnight before he fell asleep on the sofa. Venom's head hovered over his shoulder, white iridescent eyes focused on the screen of their modest twenty-inch television. It was one that Eddie had snatched off of a curb during a suburban trash-pile day. Snatching was encouraged, and he hadn’t hesitated. It was a decent little TV, and had only taken a little tweaking to get it working again.

Not needing to sleep in the same way Eddie did had its perks, like being able to stay awake all night entertaining himself while ensuring that his host got a decent amount of rest to properly function the next day.

But it also had its occasional downsides, like being far too aware of Eddie’s dreams—when he had them, that is. Oftentimes, it was merely annoying or distracting; how was he supposed to watch TV when Eddie was having some strange dream involving public speaking and a lack of pants? Other times, it was more frustrating, seeing these subconscious expressions of whatever real-life thing Eddie’s brain was most fixated on.

Sometimes, it was stressful dreams due to whatever job he was currently working. These dreams tended to make Eddie grind his teeth, so Venom would often cut off the dream’s progress or alter it altogether. He tried to alter more often than stop them outright, because a lack of dreaming seemed to leave Eddie off his game the following day.

Much to Venom’s chagrin, Eddie’s dreams the last few days had been revolving around that Mina human. Which was annoying enough on its own, but sometimes they were of the more intimate and sexual nature, and Venom loathed those.

Now, admittedly Venom had no issue with the concept of dreams in general; they meant little to them. And of that intimate nature, even less. They occasionally piqued a curiosity, but only because it was very alien and different to them. But usually these dreams were due to leftover memories and feelings about Anne, or other humans that had come and gone in Eddie's life. Sometimes, it was even humans that they saw on the TV.

But this human... This one was accessible, and that was not okay. She was real and tangible and, all but unbeknownst to them, willing and able—and he knew Eddie was planning to see her again. And soon. At this rate, these dreams were only going to become more frequent and less hazy. Worse yet, they might even become reality. Perhaps not exactly as Eddie’s brain had mapped things out, of course, but a tangible reality nonetheless.

And, at this realization, Venom slumped closer to Eddie’s shoulder, giving his equivalent of a sigh, and debated about eating straight out of the garbage out of pure spite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! happy Venom Release Day (at least here in the US)! another short chapter to hold y'all over until the weekend. the next one is gonna be monster-length, and I can't wait for you all to read it!


	5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand

It was Tuesday when Eddie decided that he wanted to see Mina again. It was just a random, passing thought—but also something like a pleasant realization.

He was sitting in a university library doing research on the computer, bored out of his mind—due in part to the fact that Venom was bored. Research was hard on them both. So he pulled his phone out of his pocket and decided to text Mina. 

_ Hey, how are you? I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the movies on Friday? _

He hit send before he could second guess himself and before Venom could throw a fit. 

Mina was shuffling her stacks of canvases (her totally organized chaos was looking a little stale) as best she could when the text came through. As she moved to the counter to pick up her phone, she said aloud, “Girls, if that’s Trevor claiming he can’t do anything at the gallery without my expertise again, I’m gonna kill him.”

Her dogs wagged in response; it was difficult to say if they approved of her justified murder plans or not.

But then she saw the text was from Eddie, and her stomach did a little flip. “Okay, the murder has been cancelled. For now.”

_ hi! I’m doing pretty good, how about you? and a movie sounds amazing; let’s do it. _

She also hit send before she could wonder if she sounded a bit too eager—which usually happened before she reminded herself that she really didn’t care. She wanted a movie date with Eddie, dammit. She was going to express eagerness all she wanted. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, unlocking the screen and reading the text quickly. He couldn't help the little bounce in his seat, or the goofy smile. He tried to repress it as he glanced around to see if anyone saw.

_ Great! How about 7? And any movie you want to see. _

She chuckled. Okay, maybe the eagerness was catching.

_ 7 sounds great! you can’t put all that movie-choosing power in my hands though, Eddie. you’ll probably live to regret it. _

She added a wink emoji and hit send before setting her phone down and walking away for a moment, tips of her ears burning. Second date plans, and she was already sending winks. God.

His goofy smile turned into a legit grin. The winky face, huh? 

_ I absolutely can. If you want to see one of those weird opera things they put on in theaters, then we will see that. _

She laughed again and replied,  _ I don’t think I have the heart to do that to either of us. if pressed for an answer, I’m more of a musical theatre gal anyway. I’ll check out some movie listings and see what’s playing. just remember you brought this on yourself, Eddie. but then I suppose you will live dangerously. _

Her phone had tried to autocorrect “live” to “love” and her heart nearly leapt up her throat and out her mouth. Sometimes her autocorrect was psychic and other times it just wanted to ruin her life, apparently. Hopefully she wouldn’t actually send an autocorrect mistake like that for a while yet. 

_ "Eddie, we're bored," _ Venom said when the phone buzzed again, and Eddie smiled as he read over it.

_ I know. I'm almost done here. _

Venom gave a little sigh as Eddie sent another text.  _ “Yeah, right.” _

Mina and Eddie wound up texting each other on and off for the next couple days, talking about the movies currently playing and anything else they could think of—much to Venom’s chagrin. Eddie tried to appease him with their regular nightly excursions, but he still had this strange feeling that he was going to wake up on Friday morning with only half his liver.

Luckily, that didn’t seem to have happened (sometimes he couldn’t tell with Venom), and Friday was upon them all before they knew it. As well as a smattering of second-date nerves.

And Eddie, whether Venom liked it or not, had a bit of a talk to give him before the date started.

"Okay, look, you got to behave," Eddie was saying as he finished getting his shoes on. "I promise you this is going to be fun. You've never been to the movies before.  _ We've _ never been to the movies since...well, y'know." He stood and grabbed his wallet, sticking it in his back pocket. "But you have to be on your best behavior. I want to hold Mina's hand, and I am  _ going _ to hold Mina's hand. And, if you behave, we can get as many Milk Duds as we can afford." 

A pause.  _ "So, no hand-holding, no Milk Duds?" _

"Exactly."

Venom grumbled before muttering,  _ "Fine, I guess." _

Satisfied with that answer, Eddie left the apartment, a little bounce in his step as he went down the stairs.

He really hoped that Venom's love for chocolate would be enough to keep the alien in check. He really, really wanted this second date to go well. He liked Mina. He hoped that they could have more dates. It was nice to go out for normal people things—like movies and whatnot. Not that going out with Venom to hunt down and eat bad guys wasn't fun. But it had sort of...become  _ his _ normal. It was nice to have something  _ normal _ -normal.

Mina, who was heading out too, was also hoping for this date to go well. She liked Eddie, probably more than even she was ready to admit, and definitely more than she'd liked anybody in recent memory. And a small part of her hoped that, maybe, in one way or another, they could become part of each other's new normal.

The thought brought a fond little smile to her face as her cab pulled away from the curb. She wasn't hanging all her hope on it just yet, not on the verge of only their second date, but the thought was something of a comfort for her nerves.

At this point, the most she was hoping for was holding his hand. As she'd thought the first time they'd talked about the movies, it just wasn't the same without someone's hand to hold.

After parking his motorcycle, Eddie trotted across the parking lot and hopped up onto the sidewalk just outside of the theater. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he waited. He hoped she wasn't already inside; he had no idea what they were seeing.

Lucky for him, she stepped out of a cab in the street a minute later. Her stomach did the already-familiar flip when their gazes met, and she mentally patted herself on the back once again for choosing to wear her trusty black pants this time.

"Hi," she said brightly as she waved at him and moved closer, hoping once more that she didn't sound as breathless as she felt. Goddamn, he was cute.

"Hey, I'm glad that you got here okay. And I'm glad that I didn't miss you or anything," he chuckled, pulling his hands from his pockets and helping her up onto the curb on reflex. "So, what are we seeing?" 

She kept hold of his hand a moment longer than was probably necessary, but he didn't seem to mind. "Well, I figured I'd spare you the horror movie. This time," she said with a smirk. "So I hope you like a good slice-of-life dramedy."

"Oh, well..." He chuckled, secretly glad to be spared a horror movie. "...I feel like slice-of-life is always a safe way to go." He smiled as they headed towards the ticket counter. He honestly didn't think horror was his genre. He had never really watched it much. Sure, one or two here or there when he was a teen, but given the last year or so... Maybe a horror movie wasn't a good idea.

Meanwhile, it had taken everything in her not to pick that movie. If he got a glimpse of her movie collection, he probably could’ve guessed as such. Still, she didn't want to assume as to what kind of moviegoer he was. Better to save that sort of thing for a situation where they could turn it off, if need be.

"You bought the tickets, so snacks are on me." She poked a finger at his shoulder as they walked. "Whatever and however much your heart desires; I don't mess around when it comes to movie snacks."

_ Uh-oh. _

_ "You promised me Milk Duds!" _

"Oh, well, okay. Only the first round though, okay?" he replied as they approached the counter. "I’ll just have a box of Milk Duds." 

She raised a brow at him, smiling. "Don't hold back, Eddie. I've seen what you do to burgers and milkshakes."

He smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Okay, maybe two boxes?" 

She gave an exaggerated gasp. "Two whole boxes? You maniac." Then she grinned. "Two it is." She asked the cashier for that, and for a soda for herself.

Once they had their snacks in hand, they wound their way down the dim hallways towards their auditorium.

_ "You will get us more." _

_ Yeah, don't worry, buddy. I'll buy us one of those big king-size boxes. Hell, I'll buy us a bunch. _ Anything to keep him occupied for the duration of the movie.

They settled side by side, Mina on Eddie's right. As she set her soda into the drink holder on her right, she thought to herself that she’d play it cool during the pre-show and trailers. Then, when the movie started, if he hadn't made a move yet, she'd offer her hand. Yep, solid plan.

The pre-show was boring and people mostly talked and surfed on their phones. The trailers were...eh. A few movies looked promising. It was an odd time of year for movie releases.

Then the lights went down completely, and he rested his arm over the armrest next to her, palm up. 

She tried to play it casual and smiled at him before resting her hand in his. Inside, she was screaming happily. Holdings hands! Not just pinkies, whole hands! Yes! Greatest night already and the movie had barely started.

Venom wasn't thrilled, but Eddie slipped a box of Milk Duds into his pocket and cracked open the seal.

He creeped along the man’s arm and appeared, small and condensed, along his fingers to munch at the candies whenever the movie score was loud enough to hide the noise.

Mina was paying attention to the movie, of course, but she did shift her eyes over to their hands once in a while—as if to check that it was really happening. About halfway through the movie, during a quieter scene, she shifted her hand a little to intertwine their fingers.

Eddie gave a little smile at that. It was nice. Holding hands really was the best part of going to the movies.

When the Milk Duds were gone, jealous that Eddie's attention was more focused on Mina, Venom spread and coiled their own fingers with Eddie's.

Eddie didn't really think anything of it at first, but then he remembered their conversation from earlier in the week. Oh god... Venom really  _ was _ jealous. Maybe he didn't have the exact same words for it, but... Huh. Who'd have thought?

Eddie gave Venom's hand, warm like heated water, a gentle squeeze. He would really need to find a way to reassure the symbiote that he wouldn't abandon them just because he was attempting to date another human. 

He hadn't really come up with a way that was better than talking to him by the time the movie was over, but then he was distracted (though pleasantly so) by Mina talking about the cinematography and framing and the use of the score—all while gesturing as best she could with her hand still in the cast. He was giving that sort of lopsided smile at her, the pair still holding hands as they moseyed through the hallways.

When she noticed his expression, she stopped, face flushing. "Sorry, I just..." She chuckled. "I really like movies."

He chuckled. "I can see that." He nodded a little while they walked. "I think it's really cool." He looked at her. "I really do." 

She gave him a sort of lopsided smile, blush still firmly in place. "Thanks. I like that you think it's cool." Much nicer than her ex's phrasing for it—which had always been variations on "boring" or "pointless". Such a nice way to refer to something she had actually spent time studying at school.

She cleared her throat a little and tilted her head to watch their slightly swinging clasped hands for a moment. "Enough from me; did you like it?"

"I thought it was passingly decent. I liked the music. And the main kid wasn't half-bad, even if his character was a bit of a snot. Guess that's why it’s slice of life. The main adult actors were...good." He sounded unsure of it, and it made her chuckle a little as she nodded.

“Yeah, not precisely my favorite, but I liked a lot of the parts too, if not so much the whole.” She smiled at him again. “You do realize this means you get to pick the movie next time?”

"Oh yeah, obviously," he said seriously with a nod. "That's only fair." He smiled at her. "I promise it won't be some mindless blow-‘em-up flick with zero substance. Unless The Rock’s in it, then I make no promises."

She laughed again, squeezing his hand. “Fair enough, and noted. The presence of The Rock is a great prerequisite for seeing any action movie, in my opinion.”

He waited with her outside for a cab, wishing he could give her a ride home on his bike. It was a crime he couldn't. He really had to get another helmet while she was still unable to ride it; after that, he wouldn’t have any excuses.

She was thinking much the same, and that the night didn’t have to end just yet. After a few moments, she turned to face him. “I know you had two whole boxes of Milk Duds in there, but are you hungry? There’s a great pizza place around the corner from my apartment. My treat.” She smiled. “And your choice of dine-in or take-out, if you like. I do have a perfectly good couch to sit on.” It had been great to have someone to go to a movie with again, but it seemed like the date was about to be over all too soon.

_ "We want pizza." _ They were always hungry, and, honestly, Eddie had adjusted to taking food when and where he could get it.

"That sounds great. I could meet you there, and then we can figure out if we wanna move on or not." 

Her smile widened. “Sounds great. You remember how to get to my place? This place is literally one block down and around the corner.” She grinned. “If you get lost, let me know.” God, she couldn’t wait until they could just go places together on his motorcycle. Talk about an upgrade. But, for now, they could make it work.

"I do, but don't be silly; I'll follow your cab." He wanted to make sure that she was safe and they both arrived where they needed to be. 

"Perfect." Then she glanced over her shoulder as a cab started to inch closer. "Promise not to leave without ya." And she gave his hand one more squeeze before moving to slide into the taxi.

He smiled, flashing crooked teeth briefly. "Thanks." He released her hand and headed back towards his bike.

She told the cab driver to wait, and then waited until she heard the rumble of his motorcycle rounding the corner. She waved at him through the back window, and they were off.

She had the cab stop at her building; there was better parking along there than there was near the pizzeria anyway. When she climbed out, she stood on the curb and watched Eddie park, letting out a borderline-swoon of a sigh while the loud engine still idled and he couldn’t hear. Cute, seemed to like leather jackets, and had a motorcycle? Lucy was right; how had she not proposed on the spot? Christ, she was weak.

"God, that is a nice bike," she said when he cut the engine.

"Thank you." He grinned as he climbed off and joined her on the sidewalk. "It’s my pride and joy." One of the reasons he’d lived in a shit apartment for awhile rather than sell it.

"It shows," she said, nodding approvingly. "My grandpa used to fix up and restore old Harleys. I didn't pick up much, but I did garner an appreciation for such things."

“Good priorities,” he said with a little grin.

She grinned back and took his hand again, leading the way down the sidewalk.

He still had one hand in his pocket because Venom refused to let go unless he was on the motorcycle, and Eddie wasn't going to ask him to just yet. If the parasite was feeling needy, well, then he would try and give him what he needed. 

The pizzeria was warm, inviting, and small. It was nestled between a specialty bookshop and an art supply store—both closed by that time of night, but the neon signs advertising pizza blazed bright onto the sidewalk. There were a few small tables inside, only one of which was occupied.

Behind the counter was a brick oven with smoldering embers inside, and a woman sorting through receipts in her flour-dusted hands behind the register. The hair at her temples was just starting to go gray, and her eyes were a bright green when she looked up.

"Ah, Mina, good to see you," she said with a warm smile. It was grandmotherly, and contagious.

"Hi, Flo," Mina replied with a smile of her own.

Then Flo's eyes shifted to Eddie, and he wondered for a moment if she could see through him. "I would ask about the cast, but I'm more interested in your..." She tilted her gaze down to their clasped hands. "...friend here."

Mina gave Eddie's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Flo, this is Eddie, a new friend of mine. Eddie, this is Flo. Makes the best pizza this side of the Golden Gate."

_ We need to shake her hand. _

_ "Then let go of hers." _

_ That'd be rude. Please? I'll give it right back. _

Venom gave a resistant growl, but Eddie was able to pull his hand from his pocket and shake the woman’s floury hand. 

Flo had a stronger grip than he'd anticipated, and she gave a nod as they shook. "Glad to see Mina come around here with any new friends. You spend too much time cooped up in that apartment."

Mina gave an exaggerated eye-roll, and raised her encased hand. "Not quite enough, apparently."

Flo just chuckled back. "What'll it be, kids?"

He glanced at her. "I'm honestly find with whatever," he assured. "Got a favorite?" 

Mina smirked. "You gotta try her speciality. The only people that don't like it, well... Actually, I've never met anyone that didn't like it."

"That's because I don't allow them back in here," Flo said, sticking the rest of the receipts in a drawer and starting to move towards a black swinging door past the oven. "Your order'll be right out; grab some cups and have a seat."

"Thanks, Flo!" Mina slipped her hand out of Eddie's, then leaned up and over the counter to grab two red plastic drinking cups from the shelf. She lead the way to the soda dispenser, and they got their drinks before taking a seat at a table for two near the side windows.

They sat and sipped at their drinks. The radio behind the counter was quietly playing pop music, and the person at the table by the door was plugged into their laptop and thoroughly distracted. It was a nice little place—cozy, almost familiar. He liked the atmosphere. 

"So how'd work go this week?" she asked before taking a drink of her soda.

"Uh, pretty good." He actually had only worked the one day so far, and it had been dull work. "A lot of research."

She nodded, stirring her drink with her straw. "I imagine you spend a lot of time in libraries and on google," she said with a little smile. “If it’s any consolation, I do too. Well, that and museums.”

"I do, I really do." He chuckled. "A lot of time at libraries, a lot less time walking the streets. It's been a hell of an adjustment period."

She chuckled back. "Less action, more time in front of a computer screen. Been there. A few years ago, I spent a lot of running to agencies and meetings and things. Now I'm such a homebody, the idea of doing that again is kind of exhausting."

"Yeah, it's weird. I'm not sure if I like it more or not. I kind of like the writing format, but I miss the people...?" He squinted his eyes and tilted his head. "Does that make sense?"

Her smile widened and she chuckled again. "It makes sense. You sort of work a people-centric job, no matter how you go about it. It figures you'd miss being out and interacting with the people you're reporting on."

He nodded, little smile on his face. “Exactly.”

When Flo called out that their pizza was just about ready, there was a quiet moment of wondering whether they should stay and eat there or go back to her apartment. It was only their second date, so there were really no expectations. They’d agreed to take things slow, and neither of them looked poised to reverse that. But, after a minute, Eddie decided he was curious enough about her apartment to suggest eating back at her place. 

Despite the lack of expectations on either side of things, her face did noticeably light up when the decision had been made. She lead the way back around the corner, the two of them falling into step next to each other. He held the pizza in one hand, and his other hand was still being firmly held by Venom.

_ Y'know, at some point, she's gonna start to wonder why I won't take my hand out of my pocket. _

_ "And you think I care about this because...?" _

He followed Mina into her building, and up the stairs to the top floor, where she unlocked the door and held it open for him. "I would say, 'Excuse the mess,' but this isn't even the worst it's ever been. And, also, I don't apologize for my art messes," she said with a smirk as she followed him in and shut the door behind them. "You can set the pizza there." She gestured to the island and hung her purse up by the door.

He glanced around as he set the pizza box down. "You call this messy?" It was. "More like lived-in." True. "My apartment can't even say it has that cozy quality." 

"Well, thank you. And maybe your place doesn't seem as cozy because you work from there? An outsider might have a different perspective." God, she was a subtle as a brick sometimes. At least her tone had stayed casual.

_ "Do not bring her into our home," _ Venom huffed. 

"Oh, well..." He smiled and awkwardly rubbed his neck. "To be honest, it's actually just sort of a shit apartment." He let out a puff of laughter. 

"Hey, even shit apartments can be home. I used to live in this teeny hole-in-the-wall place above a music venue. I barely had room for a futon, never mind a bed, and there was a communal kitchen and showers." She shrugged. "It was loud and the roof leaked and shit, but it was mine," she said with a little smile.

"I like it fine and all; it's perfect for me. But I don't know if I want to bring anyone to see it." He flipped open the pizza box. "At least not until I put some effort into the place. 

_ "Maybe we could get a plant." _

She chuckled and went over to the fridge. "Well, if you ever want a second opinion, you know where I live." She pushed her flushed face into the open fridge. "You want a drink? I've got soda, water, juice... Also alcohol, but I gotta be upfront and say if you wanna drink, you're gonna have a hard time getting past me to drive home."

_ “We would get you home safe." _ Not that Venom approved of excessive drinking. 

_ Yeah, but she doesn't know that. _

"But, in that event, I can always call you a cab to get you home." She pulled out a wine cooler for herself. "Or, y'know, I have a perfectly comfortable couch that's not doing anything. God knows I've passed out on it enough times to be sure of that." Her face was bright red again, and she knew it. If she thought she was being forward before, god... She busied herself with twisting off the cap off the bottle and tossing it in the sink.

"Well, I think I'll start with soda and see where the mood takes me." He wasn't entirely against sleeping on her sofa. He knew he was safe, after all. He was fine so long as he was with Venom.

She smiled over her shoulder at him. "Sounds good." She opened the fridge again, and slid a can of his choice at the restaurant over to him.

Her dogs finally started whining quizzically, drawing her attention. They waited until she patted her leg, then scurried over to give their greetings.

"Be polite, my dears," she said, crouching down and squishing Angel Marie's cheeks. "It's a nice houseguest this time, I promise. And one you met before."

Angel Marie replied by kissing her on the face.

"I'll take that as an agreement to behave."

_ Oh, right. I forgot about the dogs. Shit. _ He glanced down at the dogs near her legs. 

The pair looked at him as Mina stood back up and moved to pull plates down out of the cupboard. Angel put her ears back, but O'Brien actually moved forward and sniffed cautiously at Eddie. The way the two seemed to be sizing him up was almost too intelligent—like they knew there was something weird about him but they couldn't but their fingers—paws?—on what, exactly.

O'Brien gave his hand a little lick, like she'd done at the dog park, before the pair ran over and jumped on the far end of the lounge couch to lay down.

They slapped pizza onto their plates and moved to the couch, Mina sitting with her dogs, and Eddie on the other end of the sofa. 

He readily munched away at the pizza when they sat down, happily surprised at how good it was; not that they would ever be too picky.

"You wanna watch a movie?" she asked between bites, turning on her TV. "Perhaps one that we know is good?"

"Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind? I’m open to suggestions," he said before taking another bite. He was trying to remember not to talk with his mouth full—a difficult feat considering he could usually do that and the muffled nonsense made sense to Venom. Of course, he could also talk to Venom without opening his mouth; as such, talking to regular people was sometimes weirdly refreshingly. Refreshing because, yay normal people, but weird because, oh yeah, he actually had open his mouth and make coherent sounds. 

Spoken language had become a non-necessity for their communication, and it was...weird.

Mina peered at her shelves of movies from where she sat, as if she could clearly read every title from the couch. “Well, I have a lot to suggest,” she said, then finally got up and went to look more closely. “Not to mention the vast streaming libraries available to us. And I already know there’s one glaring absence from your movie-watching life—one of the Muppet variety.” She gave a little grin to herself. “But I don’t think I’ll ‘subject’ you to that just yet. So...” She pulled a DVD case out and held it over her shoulder towards him. “You ever seen  _ Clue _ ?” Now she grinned at him too. “It also has Tim Curry, but no singing Muppets,  _ and _ no killer clowns.”

"Well who doesn't love Tim Curry?" He grinned back. "I  _ have _ seen that, but not for years, so I'm down."

“Awesome. Also you’re lucky my sister’s not here; we have this damn thing memorized. Used to drive my brother bonkers because we can’t just sit and watch it; we have to quote everything,” she said as she maneuvered freeing the disc from its case and feeding it into her PS4. Once, she thought she might like to be a gamer of sorts, but now it was basically an expensive blu-ray player whose main purpose was streaming stuff for her enjoyment. Oh well.

He let out a low laugh. "Hey, I think that's great. You know a thing brought you joy and entertainment if you can quote it verbatim."

She gestured to him as she dropped back down on the couch. “Exactly! See, you get it.”

She queued up the movie and hit play, then got up to get more pizza, as well as a couple more slices for Eddie as well. “You want another drink?” she asked as she grabbed a bottle of water for herself. She was hardly a lightweight, but one wine cooler was enough to give her the slightest hint of a buzz, and that was enough for the time being. 

_ "Water." _

"Water, please," he said, tilting his head a little towards the back of the couch. 

“You got it,” she replied, then crossed back over, putting two more slices of pizza on his empty plate, and handing him the water. She settled back into her seat, O’Brien’s eyes rolling up to look longingly at her food. They could give pleading eyes all they liked, but they knew better than to actually ask beyond that. 

Eddie ate six slices of pizza before Mr. Boddy hit the floor the first time. And finished his water before deciding, fuck it, he wanted alcohol. He knew Venom didn't like alcohol, but decided to try one of the fruity wine coolers—to not avail; Venom still hated it. He tried to tell him there were other flavors, but Venom didn’t seem all that interested in alternatives.

Around the time the motorist showed up to use the phone, Mina decided to have another drink herself. This was nothing compared to the drinking game she and Lucy had come up with. Maybe they’d all play it together sometime... That is, if he decided he A) wanted to stick around, and B) liked the idea of hanging out with her little sister. That reminded her that they were going to be meeting very soon. Holy shit. She took a long gulp of her drink, and refocused on the movie. There’d be time to worry about that later; for now, there was a multiple murder to be solved.

Eddie was not shy about hiding his enjoyment, and laughed and guffawed at the jokes he both recalled and didn't. It had been literal years since he had seen it, but, even so, he remembered more of it than he’d anticipated. That may have been because Venom was filtering through his memories for context of jokes that he didn't understand.

Maybe the slightly elevated buzz of her second drink hit her quicker than expected, or maybe it was how hard Eddie was laughing, but she was giggling right along with him. She even started some of her flawless quoting about halfway through the movie, and it only seemed to make them both laugh harder. Tears were rolling down her face and she was (lightly) slapping Eddie on the shoulder right about the time Mr. Green was begging Wadsworth to stop throwing him on the ground.

Eddie had gone back to water after his second wine cooler, but was feeling merrily buzzed. It had been awhile since he had had anything to drink but watered-down beer. 

“Don’t tell me my fruity drink got to you,” she said, wiping at her face. She was now sitting much closer to him—turned to face him and leaning against the back of the couch only a few inches from his shoulder. 

"Maybe a little. I mean... I'm okay, but I’m feeling a bit fuzzy." He chuckled at the familiar bubbly, fuzzy feel in his chest and stomach.

She laughed softly, leaning her head against her propped-up hand. “I think that feeling is catching.” She bit her tongue to keep from blurting out how cute he was with his flushed face and big grin.

Admittedly, he  _ was _ a bit pink, from the tips of his ears and across his cheeks and nose. 

"Yeah? Must be,” he replied, looking back at her. 

The movie ended a few minutes later, but their buzz was still chugging along. She switched over to Hulu, where they debated about sitcoms for a few minutes before settling on the old  _ Addams Family _ show, at his suggestion. Mina hadn’t seen it since she was a kid, and had mainly watched the movies growing up. Regardless, the drinks seemed to have loosened them up a bit more than they thought, because they wound up talking through most of the episodes. Eddie vented about work, and a little about how he sometimes missed the old show format of his reporting; and Mina vented about her client that was basically pushing her to finish his piece, even with one hand out of action.

As the conversation wound on, though, Mina almost got onto the subject of her brother before her sober-brain kicked her and reminded her that a second date probably wasn’t the time to unload that particular bit of personal history.

Not that Eddie was sending any signals indicating that he wasn't interested or sympathetic. He was leaning his head on his hand, listening and encouraging her to bitch, agreeing that so-and-so was a douche or that a situation was ridiculous. 

Still, she figured it better not to get into the veritable powerpoint presentation of why she and her brother were the way they were towards each other. Maybe that was a third date topic. It wasn’t like she expected him to open up about his ex and why they broke up just yet. Unless he wanted to, but she wasn’t about to press him.

She stopped for a moment, eyes searching his earnest expression. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re really easy to talk to?”

"Umm..." He looked to the left, eyes squinted and mouth screwed up a little while he pondered. "Yeah, one or two," he said with a smile. 

She laughed, corners of her eyes crinkling. "Oh, thank god. So I'm not leaving you stunned with any new information."

"Not too new," he laughed, scratching his cheek. "Though it's been awhile." He usually heard it from his homeless friends, but most of them were now gone or dead. And, even though he still protected the homeless, they were wisely distrustful of strangers. 

"Oh? That's a shame. I'll just have to remind you of these sorts of things more often," she said, reaching her hand over to brush her fingers against his knuckles.

His smile grew, a little more genuine rather than awkward. "Yeah?"

Venom, who had mostly been quiet save for a few comments about what they were watching, prickled at her touch.

"Yeah, sure," she replied, lightly bumping her thumb across the back of his hand. "It's true, and it makes you smile. So...win-win."

"Ahh..." His nose wrinkled and his rubbed his ear against his shoulder, head tilting towards the back of the sofa. "Hate my smile," he said, smiling. He almost never admitted that out loud, but he was a little buzzed and full—and comfortable, despite Venom’s prickling inside him.

“Whaaaat, no! You have such a good smile!” she insisted and gripped his hand tighter. Uh-oh, buzzed-Mina was taking the wheel again. “It’s warm and infectious and... God, your whole face just lights up; it’s so cute.”

"I, uh..." He gave a sort of breathless chuckle, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I-I don't know about cute."

"Well, I do," she said, very certain. "And you're really cute." It felt like damning with faint praise, but, god, she liked saying it. And he looked like he liked hearing it.

It was probably the buzz, probably a touch of the relaxed atmosphere, and definitely to do with the company… But Eddie leaned in slightly, eyes lidded, and, with only enough hesitation to gauge her response, brushed their lips together. 

It couldn't even properly be considered a kiss, because the second their lips brushed even a little he felt a sharp jerk below his navel and at the back of his collar.

He let out a grunt and suddenly stood. "I, uh— Where's your bathroom?" he asked, inching around the side of the sofa.

She blinked at the empty space he had been occupying only a moment before, unable to completely wipe the surprised look off her face when she finally looked up at him. "Oh, um... Through my room, to the right."

He mumbled a thanks before disappearing, and she sat, stunned, for a long moment, before collapsing against the back of the couch with a long sigh. Yeah, it had been basically nothing, but... God, he'd almost... Damn.

He shuffled quickly through her bedroom only glancing before closing himself into the bathroom. "What the fuck?" he snapped as he stopped in front of the sink. 

_ "You were going to do the mouth-smoosh thing,” _ Venom replied, voice low and unhappy. 

"So you yank on a guy’s bladder?" 

_ "I could have simply thrown you through the wall." _

Well, there was that. And avoiding property damage, especially when it wasn't his own property was always a plus.

Still... Had he really almost done that? Sure, he liked her and she was funny... And the way her nose scrunched up when she smiled really wide was adorable as hell...

He ran his hands down his face and sighed. "Aw, shit."

_ Hurry up and pee so we can leave. _

"We can't leave, I've had alcohol," he murmured, moving over towards the toilet. 

_ “We'll get us home.” _

"Yeah, but she doesn't know I've got a copilot." 

_ "So?" _

"So she's not about to let me drive home buzzed. Feel like she'd kick my ass before she let that happen. She's tiny, but I believe she could do it.” He paused, then added. “...I'd probably let her, all things considered."

Venom gave a gravelly sigh.  _ "You're pathetic, you know that?" _

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder."

Once he'd finished, making sure to close the lid again, and washed his hands before going back through her bedroom and into the living room.

"Sorry, alcohol goes right through me." It didn't, but he figured it was a believable enough lie.

"It's okay," she said, hoping she sounded sincere, and stood from the couch. She felt a little wave of deja-vu from their first date when she asked, "Seriously, though, Eddie, you okay? I-I'm not mad, I just..." She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, just wanted to make sure you're okay." Just needing the bathroom yanking him up off the couch like that? Not likely. And she hoped she could make it clear that he didn't need to tap-dance around things like... Like, well, almost kissing her and apparently panicking about it.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he replied with a nod. Not like he could tell her he had a jealous parasite in his head. 

_ “Not jealous.” _

_ You are entirely jealous, V. _

"Okay." She decided not to press; it was late, they'd both been drinking... Best to save the serious talks for sober times.

She shifted her weight, pressing her lips together. "On, uh... On that note, I just realized it's after midnight. We could probably both use some rest." She gave him a little smile. "You wanna take the couch or a cab? No pressure either way."

_ “Cab.” _

"I think the couch sounds amazing, to be honest," he said, stretching a little with a soft groan. 

_ “Bitch.” _

"I'd hate to leave my bike..." he said as he ran a hand over his hair. "And, honestly, I fall asleep on my sofa at home pretty regularly."

"Ah, then you'll be right at home on this one." She shooed her dogs off onto their beds, trying not to let on how secretly thrilled she was that he'd decided to stay, especially given what had just happened. Er, almost happened. "I also pass out on it semi-regularly. And don't worry about the girls; they'll bother me before they bother you." She gave them a pointed look just for good measure.

She could tell that her nervous fast-talking was rearing its head again as she flitted around the room, but she didn’t exactly feel like doing anything to try to stop it, so...

"And sleep in whatever combination of clothes you're comfortable in. This is far from a shy household and I couldn't care less. Oh, duh, you'll need a pillow, huh?" And she turned on her heel and went into her room.

He sat and took his shoes off. He wouldn't strip, but he might undo his pants to take some pressure off his gut while sleeping.

"Oh, and don't be shy about coming through for the bathroom at any time. I've had lots of clients in here, so it's all good."

"Clients? You know how that sounds, right?" he teased, grinning to himself. He pulled his jacket off next and draped it over the back of the couch so it was within easy reach. 

She reappeared in the bedroom doorway, cheeks noticeably pink, pillow in hand. "My art clients, you dork." And she threw the pillow at him. She couldn't help laughing, though.

The pillow nailed him in the head and he laughed as it dropped to the cushion beside him. "Yeah, but it sounded bad," he said as he slapped the pillow up against the armrest and then swung his legs up and laid back.

She laughed again. "So I'll blame it on the alcohol. This time." She went into her room again, and came back with a blanket. "You seem to run pretty warm, but just in case," she said, moving closer to toss it over to him a little more gently than she had the pillow.

“Thanks,” he said with a warm smile. It was a sweet gesture. He felt warm to others but honestly he didn't notice the warmth unless he was encased in Venom.

"Need anything else?" she asked.

"No, I'm good. I think I'll manage."

"Okay." She moved back towards her room, but stopped and leaned against the doorframe, looking at him. "If you think of something, don't be shy about waking me up. Just announce yourself beforehand; as you know, I tend to swing to kill—or at least injure—if suddenly woken from unconsciousness," she said with a grin.

"Good girl, that's smart," he said with a tired, squinty grin, giving her a thumbs-up. 

She chuckled, her nose doing that scrunch thing. "Sleep well, Eddie," she said before ducking into her room.

“Goodnight, Mina,” he replied.

_ “I want to go home.” _

_ Relax, buddy, nothing is going to happen. We're just sleeping here. Then, tomorrow, we're gonna go home, _ he tried to assure as he settled, one hand on his stomach the other on his chest over his sternum.

Mina quietly went about her routine before settling down in bed. After a little while, she could hear Eddie’s even, deep breathing from the living room, but she was still, unfortunately, awake. So she rolled over and texted her sister, even though she knew she was likely asleep. But staring at the screen for a little bit was likely to make her eyes more tired.

_ mayday, mayday, he almost kissed me and he’s sleeping over on my couch I’ve been internally screaming for the last like hour hoooooly shit _

Not expecting an answer, she set the phone under her pillow and tried to settle onto her stomach.

Her phone buzzed under her pillow, and she scooped it up and peered at the reply message.

_ full details. tomorrow. or you’re no longer my favorite sister. _

Mina chuckled.  _ deal. _

And she rolled over again, and tried to force herself to go to sleep. 

She realized she must have eventually, because she could see daylight the next time she opened her eyes. She lay still for a few moments, almost as if she were at a sleepover and was listening to see if she was the first one awake (as she so often had been). Eddie was still nearly-snoring on the couch, from what it sounded like. So much the better; she could put her plan into action before he could even try to stop her.

Before even daring to leave her bed on the chance that he would wake up when he heard her moving around, she opened up her phone and ordered a ludicrous amount of breakfast via app. She gave the building's address for delivery from the restaurant, waited for the confirmation, and then decided it was safe to get up. There'd be no stopping it now. The thought brought a small grin to her face.

She slipped on a knit cardigan that was at least one size too big for her and ran a brush through her hair before leaving her room. Angel and O'Brien perked up from where they lay on their beds, the only sound they made coming from their dog tags. Good, they hadn't bothered him in the middle of the night. Or, at least it seemed that was so.

She waited until she got the notification on her phone that the food was on the way, then silently signaled for the girls to go over to the door. She put their leashes on them, grabbed her wallet, and slipped out of the apartment as quietly as possible—maybe feeling a little too proud of herself for the current situation, but proud nonetheless. Even if Eddie was still sleeping when she got back, there was going to be plenty of breakfast waiting when he woke up. And there was nothing he could do about it, and no check the two of them could fight over. A small, strange sort of victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Venom hadn't exactly slept, since he didn't exactly sleep like humans do. He did, however, rest, and only stirred when he sensed more movement than the dogs had been doing in the night. It was a mild torment, as the two dogs looked perfectly delicious. 

He registered the woman leaving and settled again. Fine. Good. Once Eddie had his required eight hours, they could be up and leave.

Mina returned a few minutes later, plastic bags hung on her cast. She reminded the dogs to be quiet before opening the door, and they seemed willing to oblige. But, of course, they decided the best place to stay quiet was on her bed, not theirs. Fine, as long as they behaved.

The rustling of bags made Eddie stir a bit, but it wasn’t quite enough to wake him. The smells coming from the bags, however...

_ Eddie, foooooood…! _

Eddie made a humming, moaning sound—just a single note—, and shifted, arm across his face sliding down over his mouth, eyes still closed. 

_ Food? _

_ Yes, Eddie. She brought food. We eat, then we leave. _

Mina stopped unpacking the boxes of food for a moment, craning her head to try to see if he was awake. When he didn't move again right away, she went back to unloading and sorting, then turned and quietly pulled two mugs down from her cupboard.

She smiled a little to herself; she'd forced herself not to stare when she'd first woken up, but, damn he just looked so...soft when he was sleeping. Not that he looked especially harsh when he was awake, but he certainly looked...cozy. Calm. She tried not to linger on the idea of snuggling up against him. If she did, there went the whole rest of her day.

It was the scent of coffee that finally stirred Eddie fully awake, as well as more badgering and encouragement from Venom, who kept insisting that they eat then leave. 

"Mmm, morning..." he said as he sat up, hair a mess, eyes squinty.

She chuckled. "Morning, handsome.”

He smiled sleepily at her, taking in the oversized, cozy pajamas she was wearing under her sweater. "Well, good morning, beautiful. You're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." He chuckled, running a hand over his hair to try to get it lay a little more flat.

She tried to keep her smile under control, cheeks flushing pink. “I do try,” she replied.  “How do you take your coffee?"

_ Black with lots of sugar.  _

Eddie actually hadn't ever taken his coffee with sugar before Venom. 

"Black, three sugars." 

"You got it," she said, turning her back to let loose her ridiculous smile as she stirred sugar into his mug, then added a little milk to her own. She carried his mug over to the couch, holding it out to him. There'd been an impulse to lean closer, kiss his forehead as she handed to him, but luckily she tamped that domestic urge down. For the time being. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a rock,” he said as he shifted a little, taking the cup she offered him. "Thanks. You've got a really comfortable sofa." His voice was still a little scratchy with sleep. 

It was too cute, and a little too attractive for, well, either of their own goods. "Good. And glad someone else agrees about that." She moved back to pick up her coffee off the island, and took a sip of the coffee before nodding back towards the kitchen. "By the way, I hope you're hungry, because breakfast is ready as soon as you are."

"Yeah, what did you get?" He stood, a little stiff in the hips and lower back.

"A little of everything. Y'know, pancakes, waffles, toast, eggs, bacon... All that jazz."

He stretched, careful with his mug, and groaned again. "Sounds great. How much do I owe you?"

She swallowed another gulp of coffee, waving her hand at him as he approached. "Eddie, you don't owe me anything. You're stayed over, and now I'm feeding you. Hell, I'd have cooked, but you don't wanna see what my pancakes look like when I'm like this." She held up her right hand and wiggled her fingers at him.

"Aw, that's sweet." He had a twenty; he'd leave it tucked somewhere before he left. He gave her a little grin. “I'm sure yours taste better, though."

She smiled back. “Oh, thanks. I do make some pretty killer blueberry pancakes, if I say so myself. I’ll make ‘em for you sometime.”

"Yes, please. I can cook some mean tater tots." He chuckled. He wasn't much of a cook; he knew how, but everything sort of wound up tasting like feet, so he’d given up long ago.

"Ah, perfect, I love tater tots," she said with a big grin as she set her mug down on the island. "So it's a date: some morning, I'll make the pancakes..." She poked at his chest. "...and you make the tater tots."

"Chocolate chip.” He grinned wider. “Think you could manage that?"

He could feel a curious shift from Venom behind his ribcage. 

She grinned again. "For you? Most definitely."

That urge to lean up and kiss him was coming back in full force. But she tore herself away and went to the cupboard to pull down plates instead. The almost-kiss of the night before hadn't stopped playing in her head from the moment she'd woken up, and she was sure that was having some sort of effect on things. Perhaps a slight one, but it was there regardless. They'd barely known each other two weeks, but things felt...easy. Natural. She wondered for a moment if that should scare her, but she shooed the thought away for later. Food now. Potential internal crisis about her life later.

He sipped at his coffee and took the plate she offered him, and his stomach growled as she finished unpacking the food.

She chuckled at the sound before reassuring, "And eat whatever you want.” She grabbed out silverware for them. "I'm not gonna lay claim on anything, apart from one waffle."

“ _ Eat everything.” _

"Well, you're gonna eat more than one lousy waffle," he said, and piled a little of everything onto his plate. 

"Oh, naturally," she said, grabbing up the waffle in question. "I just figured we were both too tired to literally fight over bacon and shit, and so decided to throw in the towel." She smirked. "Just this once."

He laughed softly and took his very heavy plate back to the sofa, sitting down and waiting for her to join him—despite how impatient Venom was. 

When she did, her plate was loaded up with only slightly less food than he had, and she settled it on her lap while she turned on the TV. Cozy morning with copious amounts of breakfast food and classic sitcoms—and all that with Eddie sitting next to her? Pretty much a perfect morning, as far as she was concerned.

Eddie ate bits of everything, loading up his fork and eating as quickly as he could without coming off as piggish. 

Not that she especially would've cared; when she was home alone, it was like she was racing herself to see how fast she could eat to get on with her day. That hadn't been going on as much since her wrist had been broken and she'd had less to do, but...still, she wasn't about to judge someone else while they were eating.

They both went back for seconds after their first episode of the morning finished, and she tried to be good and had a glass of juice instead of another cup of coffee right away. She could hear Lucy in the back of her head asking,  _ "Don't you ever have fruit? Vegetables?" _ She knew juice wasn't what she'd meant, but close enough for the time being.

Eddie had two glasses of water and some juice, despite his angry bladder. He probably should pee, but, as far as his body’s guest was concerned, urinating was a secondary problem in comparison to eating. And since said guest might eat said stomach if not fed, Eddie was forced to agree. 

With her second helping finished, Mina sat her plate aside and leaned back to let her newly-created food baby digest. She shifted her head and looked at Eddie. "I don't say this as a joke at all, but I think there's more if you want more, and you're welcome to it. No judgment whatsoever."

"Ah, I may snatch a little before I go home," he said with an awkward half-smile, and set his plate aside before standing with a groan. "If you really don't mind." 

"Not a bit," she assured, smiling. "Food is one thing I never mind parting with, especially if my friends are the ones taking it."

"Aw, that's sweet," he said, and took their plates to the kitchen, then crossed back towards her room. "I'll be back. Going to freshen up a bit." 

"Okay," she replied. "Use whatever, and take your time." Then she went about consolidating the rest of the food for more easy take-away for whenever he left.

He finally went to the bathroom, then washed his face and borrowed some of her toothpaste. He rubbed it along his teeth, gums, and his tongue with a finger. It helped a little. 

When he came back, she'd managed to pack the rest of the food into two containers, and tied them up in a single bag. The rest of the evidence of how large their breakfast had been was nowhere to be found.

His hair was a little damp, and his face a little pink, but he looked considerably more awake. Not quite as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as Mina, as he’d put it earlier, but awake nonetheless.

"Ta-da," she said, smiling and scooting it to the corner of the island.

He smiled back as he moved closer. "Talent—you are talented," he praised, amused.

She grinned. "Thank you. I think I'll start selling out shows in Vegas before long.”

He nodded to the bag and said, “Thank you for this.”

“You're more than welcome. If I can do nothing else..." She gestured to the bag of food as well. "...I can give you food."

_ “Perhaps she isn't totally worthless after all,” _ Venom purred, shifting inside of Eddie.

It took a considerable amount of effort to keep from rolling his eyes at the comment. 

"I appreciate it, I really do," he said, leaning his hip against the island counter, and nodding a little, more to himself than to her. "Though you really don't have to. I mean, we hardly know each other." And he couldn’t get her anything in return—not really. At least, not until his paychecks started coming in more regularly.

"Doesn't matter," she replied, leaning in his direction with her elbows on the island. "And, yes, I do have to." Her fingers tapped on the countertop a couple times before she continued. "Okay, I'm gonna get real for, like...two minutes. Just two minutes, I promise. So, y'know last night I was talking about when I lived in that one-room place with a leaky roof and basically no heat? I was an inch away from living on the street. Well, as much of an inch as my siblings would let me, but anyway... When I was living like that, and, hell, even for a while after I got out of there, I'd sometimes go without stuff so that I could buy the people I cared about the only thing I could even hope to afford." She gestured to the bag again. "It was the only tangible way I could show I cared, even if I was broke. And now, even though I'm more stable and not in danger of living in a tent under a bridge... I don't know, the habit just sort of stuck around." She gave him a lopsided smile. "I really like you, Eddie. Even if you hadn't come to my rescue that night, I'd still really like you. As such, I will continue to buy you food at any given opportunity." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Whether you like it or not."

This statement, and adding onto facts and histories that Venom had mostly ignored from the night before, piqued the symbiote's interest. It was...curious.

Eddie was a bit dumbfounded, if he were honest, but his stomach gave a little swooping sensation. "That's..." Sweet? Kind? Any word following along those lines? He let the sentence die on his tongue and just smiled at her. "Thanks."

The unsaid words hung in the air between them, but Mina smiled back like she'd heard them. Maybe she could read them on his face, for all he knew. "You're welcome." She leaned her head a little closer towards him. "I'm also gonna spell this part out to reassure you of it: it's not a burden or an imposition, and I like doing it. And I don't expect any sort of, like, one-to-one return of favors or anything. I've always accepted payments in the forms of hugs, kisses, whatever folks come up with." She smiled. "So it's okay, Eddie."

His cheeks and ears turned slightly pink again. He wasn't sure how he would feel about that. He... He wasn't  _ great _ at giving back, despite the fact that he wanted to. He genuinely liked giving back to people. It was partially selfish, because he craved attention and connections, but he wasn't consciously aware of that. Venom, of course, was, though he didn't entirely understand the emotions behind it. Venom was not good at human emotions; his own were very basic, and humans were so...needlessly complex.

"I can tell serious-Mina has left you speechless. That's a common reaction." She reached over and squeezed his hand. "Not to worry, though; casual-and-sarcastic-Mina always comes back,” she said, smiling.

He glanced at their hands, and managed another awkward, crooked smile before looking back at her. "I mean, I guess you realize that I'll still probably try and return the favor. Even if it's just going out to the movies," he said with a soft laugh.

"Hmm," she said, thumb brushing across the back of his hand, "well, I guess I could live with that." She gave an exaggerated eye-roll and smirked. "I mean, it's such an imposition."

"That's me." He grinned, wide and toothy. "Major imposition." His tone was joking, but his gut fluttered unpleasantly.

He didn't leave straight away; it would have felt awkward, rushed. But he also didn't want to linger too long; then it would feel like loitering.

They watched a few more episodes of random sitcoms, had another cup of coffee each, and chatted about potentially going to another movie the weekend after the gallery night.

"Is it cheesy if I say I'm ridiculously excited for you to see everything? Even if it turns out to not really be your thing, I'm still excited about it," she said as she carried their empty mugs over to the sink. She smiled at him. "God, haven't been nervous for one of these things in ages."

He smiled. "No, I'm looking forward to it, too. There's a reason I haven't gone snooping around your art. I want to be surprised." He was curious. He really was! But he wasn't going to flip canvases or lift sheets on the pieces she had lying around her apartment.

"And I even left you alone with my children all night!" she joked, sweeping her arm towards the stacks of canvases. "You're a good man, Eddie."

“Heh, I do try.” He rolled his head a little, feeling awkward and embarrassed at the compliment. They sort of complemented each other a lot, didn't they?

Once it was time to leave, he picked up the food bag, he asked for about the dozenth time if she was sure, she reassured him for the dozenth time that she was sure, and they both lingered as they stood across from each other in the doorway. The edge of her flooring meeting the floor of the landing was the only thing separating them.

She had that fond little smile on her face—an expression that was already becoming familiar to him. It was almost embarrassing, like she were happy just looking at him. Of course, the way he sometimes looked at her probably wasn't that different. If nothing else, at least she didn't look uncomfortable about the way he looked at her, however that was.

"I had a really good time." She leaned her head against the doorjamb. "Nicest sleepover I've had in awhile."

"Yeah, I did too," he replied, leaning his own head near hers. He hadn't had a lot of adult sleepovers—sexual or otherwise. And he hadn't really had any sleepovers as a kid either.

She smiled a little wider up at him, chuckling. "You're really cute, you know that?" Without waiting for an answer, she stepped closer, pushing up on her toes a little as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

His eyes widened slightly, a surprised sound escaping him as her arms rested around him. Where they crossed, he felt the familiar shifting of his body’s inhabitant; Venom often curled around the base of Eddie’s skull when he wasn't settled behind his sternum, and he could feel the symbiote’s prickling.

There was a beat of hesitancy, uncertainty, but Venom was distracted, and so… "Really?" he squeaked, and hugged her back. "Well, you are too." 

She smiled wider, cheeks red, stomach doing little flips. "Thank you," she said quietly against his shoulder, more pleased than she dare fully admit.

Then she leaned back, hands lingering lightly on his shoulders as she looked at him. "Also, um, since I'm doing a lot of reassuring this morning, I just wanna do a little more before you go. Whenever you decide that you wanna try that kiss again..." She gave an encouraging nod. "...I'll be around. I can be a very patient woman, and we already agreed that rushing wasn't necessarily going to be our thing, so... Whenever you're ready, and whenever that is..." She smiled. "...I'll be here."

The prickling sharpened. Uh-oh, looked like Venom was focused again.

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I'll... Yeah, I'll remember that. Soon, just...when it’s right."

She nodded back. "Yeah, when it's right," she agreed, letting her hands fall back to her sides. "Be safe going home, okay?"

He smiled and straightened up a little. "I will. Have a good day, Mina."

“You too, Eddie.”

He took a few steps backwards before turning on his heel and moving on towards the stairs. He glanced back at her, and waved before heading down. 

She waved back, then stayed in the doorway until she heard the front door to the building close behind him. She gave a little smile to herself as she went back inside. The apartment felt a little bit emptier now, a little less warm. But she shook that off and set her sights on cleaning instead. At least it would keep her busy for a little while.

The ride home was a fast one, but Eddie decided to take a few laps before actually heading directly home. He was feeling rather light and content, and was ignoring Venom’s continual prickling and shifting around his bones. He wanted to hang onto the feeling as long as possible.

Mina was still feeling the lingering warmth of their hug when the cleaning was done, and she  _ had _ promised her sister an explanation... Maybe she could do better than that.

Lucy picked up on the second ring. "Finally, god. What, did he just now leave?!"

"Well, like, a half-hour ago, but yeah."

"And you didn't call me becaaaause...?"

"Because dishes are hard enough with a plastic bag over the one hand that's in a cast."

Lucy sighed. "Okay, fair. So dish."

"I can do you one better, Luce." Mina smiled. "How about you and me go to lunch, and you can take me along shopping wherever you wanna go? And I'll recount everything while we do so."

Mina barely got the proposal out before Lucy replied, "Oh, hell yes. You're the best sister ever, and I'm gonna buy you the cutest outfit for your gallery show."

Mina chuckled. "I suppose I can deal with that."

"Great. Pick you up around 11:30?"

Mina brought her phone down to look at its clock before she replied. "Yep, I can be ready."

"...Are you still in your pajamas? It's almost ten!"

"...Yes."

"Sometimes I wonder how we're related."

"Just lucky, I guess. See you soon, sis."

"Love yoooou!"

Mina gave a little sigh after she hung up. Good thing she'd had two cups of coffee already that morning; she'd need it to keep up with Lucy all afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did promise a long chapter earlier this week, so here it is! Merry Early Christmas, everyone!


	6. A Day In, A Day Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! Merry Christmas! hope you're all having a good day~ I realized how short this chapter was and decided to go ahead and upload it. ^^
> 
> (also I almost titled this chapter something along the lines of "tfw your different friend groups meet and it's like watching a crossover event", but I resisted.)

Venom wasn't entirely sure how they felt about this weird kind-of-dating thing that Eddie had going on with this weird human woman. Sure, breakfast and such was a consolation, but only a minor one! The symbiote couldn't quite wrap himself around the idea of change. At least, not change like this.

What happened to  _ we _ ? What happened to  _ We are Venom _ ? What the hell happened to just  _ Eddie and Venom _ ? 

While Venom sulked—and there really could be no other word for it—, Eddie cleaned up their apartment. He didn't even really notice how quiet his cohabiting pal was being until he was leaned over the bathtub scrubbing it out with bleach and a bristle brush. 

"Hey, V, you're being awfully quiet." He could pick up on the symbiote’s emotions on occasion, though they were usually just basic glimpses. Sad. Mad. Ecstatic. And he was all too familiar with sulking. Venom sulked  _ a lot. _ "Something up? Is it because we didn't sleep at home last night? Didn't go out? We can go out tonight." 

_ "I'm not sulking." _

Eddie laughed and turned on the water to start rinsing the tub. "Yeah, you are." He stood up with a groan. "Come on, buddy, what's up?"

Venom didn’t reply for a minute. There were many human things he was still learning to contextualize, and some things he found he wasn’t able to— yet, anyway. More time with Eddie could only improve that, but, for now, he would have to work with what he had.

_ “Hypothetically, if I  _ am _...jealous...” _

Eddie raised a brow.

_ “...what does that...mean?”  _ The symbiote continued quickly,  _ “This does not mean that I am! But, if I were… How might we…? I…? ...Deal with that?” _ His voice was a low rumble in comparison to his usual growl.

Eddie mulled on that. It was a fair question. "Um, well..." He scratched at the back of his head. “Speaking in human terms, generally the jealous one would, uh, ask for reassurances from the other. Like, assure them that, even if changes are happening, that whatever they have is still okay. They might, um, also set aside some dedicated time to spend just with the other person. Make a point to...ensure the other that changes are...are just changes, not necessarily a loss of any sort." He shifted his weight. "All of which is very doable."

That sounded reasonable. But it didn't sound right. It didn't quite fit.

Venom felt heavy inside of Eddie while he sulked.  _ "I don't like change." _ And he didn't like  _ her _ . She was trying to take Eddie away. But he wouldn't let her! Eddie was his! He belonged to him!

_ Him. _

Venom had adjusted to the term, but he didn't entirely like it. Not because it didn't apply but...because it was singular.

Eddie gave a little sigh. "I get it. But I can assure you of this: you and me? We're us, buddy. We're  _ we _ . We're gonna be constant, even if other people come and go." Not that he wanted Mina to be one of the ones who just came and went, but... "We're gonna be together, no matter what. Even if there's other people around, they can't come between us. Literally." He rested a hand on his shoulder. "Does that help at all?" He really did care that all this had seemed to cause Venom such distress; learning the ways of humanity was probably frustrating and exhausting—even more-so than it was for humans themselves.

He felt the familiar tingling between his shoulder blades—the usual signal of Venom emerging from his skin. He seeped up through the man’s shirt and shifted around, head formed, and bopped Eddie's fingers before rounding to look at him.  _ "I don't know." _

Eddie gave him a fond little smile. At least Venom was being honest. "That's okay. I'll just keep reassuring you, and...we'll figure this out together. Always together. Okay?"

Venom smiled. Not that he didn't always seem to flash a grin, but Eddie was getting better at reading the expressions of his non-human features. 

_ "Yes. Together." _ He booped Eddie's nose with the subtle bump between their own non-functional nostrils.

Across town, in Lucy's choice of slightly-more-upscale restaurant, Mina and Lucy were being seated for lunch. Quiet piano music filtered through the clean, open space, the sound mixing with the soft chattering and laughter of the other patrons.

Mina felt almost alien in such a place. She always felt underdressed and more than a little uncomfortable. Give her a pizza place with the radio blasting over this any day. There, she could roll in and out in her pajamas and they wouldn't care. Here, she felt like everyone could see her uneven eyeliner and was judging her clothing choices. Granted, they likely weren't, as Lucy was a frequent return guest, but she sometimes wondered all the same.

Lucy waited until the hostess brought glasses of water for them before beginning the interrogation. "Alright, spill. He spent the night?!"

Mina glanced around, but no one else seemed to be paying attention. "Can't even wait till we order appetizers, Luce?"

"C'mon, sis," she said, tapping her impeccably-painted red nails on her closed menu, "humor an old married lady."

Mina raised a brow. "Need a refresher on who's the older sibling again?" Then she sighed. "Okay, fine."

She spent the duration of the first course recounting the movie date, probably gushing a little too much about holding his hand the whole time, and also a little too much about his motorcycle that she couldn't ride yet. The second course was spent on pizza and the movie back at her place, and on the almost-kiss.

"He pulled back, just like that?" Lucy asked, arching a brow. "Sounds kinda jumpy."

Mina laughed once. "He kinda is. But I can hardly blame the guy. He got out of a really serious relationship less than a year ago, and I have all the subtlety of a brick."

"Do you think you scare him?"

She shrugged. "He  _ did _ tell me he doesn't scare easily. I think he's just...cautious, that's all. I don't mind it."

Lucy took a bite of her food and nodded. "So long as you don't mind it..." Then she looked at her again. "So he didn't kiss you, but he spent the night?"

"Yeah, we'd both been drinking, and I told him he could take a cab or he could sleep on my couch. He picked the couch and stayed for breakfast…” She got that fond little smile on her face, looking down into her water to try to hide it. “And he called me beautiful, so I'm starting to think he might like me," she said, smile stretching into a smirk.

Lucy chuckled. "That’s cute. He probably likes that you feed him so much."

"Oh, he definitely does. I don't mind that either," she said, then chuckled herself.

Lucy watched her for a long minute. "Jesus, Mina, you're practically smitten."

She pretended to be offended by that, cheeks pink. "I am not!"

"Okay then." Lucy set her fork down and looked at her seriously. "Answer me this: how many dreams have you had about him?"

Mina averted her gaze, shifting her food around her plate as the blush in her cheeks darkened.

Lucy grinned. "You're smitten."

"You're a snoop."

"Guilty."

The rest of Eddie and Venom’s afternoon was spent in bed. 

Eddie had made double hot chocolate—a whole soup-mug’s worth—, wrapped himself in a blanket, and put on  _ Cutthroat Kitchen _ on his tablet.

The rest of the day would be a snuggly self-care day. 

Venom’s behavior alarmed him. Not because he was afraid the symbiote would do something crazy—though that was always a possibility—, but more so because he didn't know how to really make it better. And when Eddie was uncertain, blankets and laying in bed were needed. It certainly couldn’t hurt things.

By the time Lucy was dragging her into the second store, Mina was wishing she were back curled up in bed herself. Of course, as Lucy had so bluntly pointed out, it wasn't like she had anything else that she could be doing, and it got her out of the house for a few hours.

"Luce, I don't even know how to act in these places, let alone shop." When she’d suggested a shopping afternoon, Mina had hoped that her sister would take her to some places that  _ she _ liked to shop. But, once again, it was proven to be a fool’s hope. Mina really should’ve known better, at this point.

"Which is why you should come here more often," she replied, holding up a sweater against Mina's shoulders. "It's not like you can't afford it." She wrinkled her nose. "God, that color's awful on you."

"I know, put it back.”

“Slowly beginning to understand why you wear so much black.”

Mina shook her head a little. “And maybe my bank account can afford this stuff, but my conscience can't. Especially when I work from home, and sometimes with stuff that doesn't exactly wash out."

"Then  _ I'll _ just keep buying you nice stuff. Because I can." She smiled at her and spun off towards a rack of dresses.

Mina shuffled along behind her, then did a double-take when she happened to glance across the store. "Oh my god."

"Did you say something?" Lucy asked, holding up a black dress.

"First of all, put that back. It's a gallery night, not singles night."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're no fun. My clients would love this."

"I'm sure they would. And second of all...I think that's my doctor over there," she said, lowering her voice.

"Where?" Lucy moved closer and tried to follow her gaze. "Oh, that tall guy with brown hair?"

Mina nodded. "Yeah, he's the one Eddie knows. He set my wrist."

Lucy gave him a subtle once-over. "He's pretty cute, not gonna lie." Then Lucy's eyes widened. "But, holy shit, that blonde with him... Oh my god, she's gorgeous." She looked at Mina again. "Should we go say hi?"

Mina made a face. "He's my doctor; why would we go say hi?"

"Because it's polite...?"

"It's awkward!"

"Because you make it awkward, Mina."

She gave a little groan. "Okay, if he recognizes me, then I'll be polite. But I'm not just gonna march over there and greet him. It's...just weird. Don’t ask me why."

“Wasn’t gonna.”

Across the way, a somewhat similar conversation was going on while Annie looked through dresses. 

"So that's the girl?" 

" _ That’s _ the girl."

Annie picked up a dress and held it up, examining the way it hung from the hanger and also subtly glancing over the girl. "She's pretty. That picture you showed me didn’t quite do her justice. I hope Eddie did ask her out again. If he didn’t, he’s an idiot." She tilted her head slightly. “I mean, he’s still an idiot, but…”

Dan looked at her, chuckling. “We  _ could _ ask her if he did.”

Anne gave him a look. “Isn’t that kinda weird? ‘Hi, I set your broken wrist and we know the guy you’re dating. Did he happen to ask you out again?’”

Dan chuckled again. “Well, we wouldn’t need to ask her exactly like that...”

Lucy put the dress back on the rack and said, “They’re totally looking at you.”

“Oh god,” Mina replied, keeping her expression under control as she ran a hand over her hair to try to smooth it down.

“You look fine. You always look fine.”

“Oh, they’re coming closer.”

“Would you calm down?”

“I’m completely calm,” she whispered back.

Dan offered a small, awkward, but friendly smile as they approached. "Mina, right?" he asked. "Dr. Lewis—I set your arm. I know it's a little weird, but I spotted you, and I just was curious about how you're doing."

"Oh, hi, Dr. Lewis," she replied, giving a smile back. "Yeah, it's Mina, and I'm doing really well." She lifted her right arm a little. "My shoulder barely hurts anymore, and I'm adjusting as best I can to the cast."

She could feel Lucy trying not to laugh behind her; her voice was bordering on her polite, talking-to-a-client voice, and she knew it.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it," he said. "Still planning for you to come back in so we can check the healing in three more weeks. Unless something happens, you'll probably get the cast off then."

"Thank god," she said, mostly because it wasn't until he said that that she fully realized she was halfway through this whole thing. Shit, had it really been almost three weeks already? "And thanks again for your help. I know that was kind of a weird situation, but I really appreciate it."

Lucy cleared her throat just over Mina's shoulder, and Mina glanced at her. "Oh, sorry. Dr. Lewis, this is my sister Lucy. Lucy, Dr. Lewis."

"Nice to meet you." He offered his hand. "And this is my fiancée, Annie Weying." 

"Nice to meet you, Annie," Mina said, shaking her hand.

Lucy suddenly got flustered shaking Annie's hand, and Mina put a hand on her shoulder. "Excuse my sister; she's having a lesbian crisis because she thinks you're beautiful."

Lucy shot her a look. "Well, she is! Besides which, that means you're having double the crisis; they're both beautiful."

Mina rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were turning pink. "Yeah, that's me, Mina 'Bisexual Disaster' Bell." Then she smiled at Annie again. "But I do agree with her; you're beautiful."

Dan laughed a little, and Annie, eyes wide in surprise, beamed. "Oh, well, thank you." She held her elbow, fingers on her other hand messing with the ends of her hair. "And to think I hated my new haircut." 

"I told you it was beautiful," Dan said. 

"Yes, but men’s opinions don't count. We always listen to the lesbians," she said with a grin.

Lucy grinned back. “Oh, you, I like.”

Annie laughed. "Now, if only men would listen to their gay counterparts, maybe they wouldn't dress like garbage."

Dan made a face, but he was almost almost laughing again. "Hey—"

"You don't, sweetie. You're a doctor, so you can't," she assured, patting Dan's shoulder before looking back to Mina and her sister. "Speaking of garbage, do you know our friend Eddie Brock?”

Mina pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, her shoulders shaking with the effort. Lucy was less successful in hiding her laugh, and let out a snort that she tried to cover up with a cough.

“Yeah, I do, actually,” Mina replied, smiling. “He’s the one who brought me to the hospital. ...And I’ve been on a couple dates with him since.” She wondered for a moment if he’d mentioned her to them.

"Ah, okay, I thought that was who you were. Yes." She gestured to Dan. "Of course, he couldn't say much about the incident—confidentiality and all that—, but you  _ are _ the woman I heard about. I'm glad you are. But, I'll say this, you're probably too good for Eddie." Her smile wasn't in any was cruel. "You look it, anyway. I hope he hasn't done anything too stupid. He can be a disaster, but his heart’s usually in the right place."

"It’s true," Dan said with a small smile. 

Mina chuckled, cheeks pink again. “He’d probably agree with you, if the conversations we’ve had are anything to go by.” She almost added,  _ “I think the stupidest thing he’s done so far is actually ask me out again,” _ but held back. Instead, she smiled a little wider and said, “And I think the stupidest thing he’s done so far is continually try to refuse me buying him food, even though I know his heart’s not really in that.”

Lucy gave her a little knowing poke in her lower back at that, but otherwise said nothing.

"Really?" Anne tilted her head. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. He's sort of that way with us too," she mused, more to herself than to the others. "I guess it's just because, now that he's back on his feet, it might feel like charity to him."

Mina nodded. “I definitely know what that feels like. Been there myself more than once.” She gave a little smile. “Still, think I finally convinced him to just let me do it. For now, anyway. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

"I bet it won't last through your next meal," Annie said with a laugh. "But, anyway, it was nice meeting you. We should let you get back to your shopping, and we should get back to ours, too." 

“It was nice to meet you, too,” Mina replied. “Hope the rest of your day goes well.”

Lucy have a little wave as the couple moved back towards the other side of the store, and Mina let out a long breath. “How’d I do, coach?”

“Cordial, polite, but warm. I give you a 10 out of 10.”

Mina gave her a half smile. She hoped she had made a good, albeit brief, impression. She liked Eddie and she hoped his friends would too, in time. It could only help her chances, after all.

It was around four when hunger dragged Eddie and Venom out of bed.

Eddie, who ran warm thanks to the alien inside of him, still crawled out of bed with the blanket wrapped around him. "How does the leftovers sound for a starter, and then we order an extra-large pizza with everything on it?"

Okay, maybe he was babying Venom a little—not that the alien seemed to entirely mind—but he didn't want him to be sad! And food was the only thing he knew of that  _ always _ made Venom happy.

Besides which, the alien had leveled out his body’s chemicals, leaving Eddie with a generally cheerier outlook than he’d ever had in his whole life; it would be a crime if he didn't try and do his own equivalent of that.

The cocoa had kept Venom sated and quiet most of the afternoon, but the mention of food caused him to stir. He gave a little rumble.  _ “Everything-everything. Not your version of ‘everything’, Eddie.” _

Eddie chuckled. “Okay, you got it.”

Venom paused a moment then said, ”Pizza, then bad guys.”

“Oh, good, you already have dessert planned,” Eddie said with a grin.

They scarfed down the leftovers from breakfast, sitting on the sofa and watching  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ . Venom horked through an entire carton himself before getting absorbed by the show, then Eddie offered the distracted alien bites between bites of his own.

It was nice. Sure, it wasn't too different from what they usually did, and yet it was. There was an intimacy to this. And, if he were honest, Eddie didn't hate it. 

Of course, he didn't really understand the depths of everything going on yet—with himself, with Venom… With any of this new life they were sharing.

When they finished off their leftovers, Eddie called the pizza place down the block; it was the only one that delivered and didn't charge an arm and leg for it. He did as Venom wanted and ordered an extra-large pizza with all the toppings, and all of the extras. For good measure, he even ordered a second pizza and breadsticks.

After he hung up the phone, he leaned back, arm resting over the back of the sofa. "That is going to cost us a pretty penny. We might have to go bad-guy hunting a few times extra times this week." 

Venom perked up a little, suddenly eager.  _ "We can do that." _

Mina finally walked back into her apartment after five o'clock, where she dropped the shopping bag on the floor of her room before collapsing onto her bed. The dogs came over to check if she was alive, then scurried off to eat their dinner. Two cups of coffee and a full meal hadn't been quite enough to keep up with Lucy, especially when she kept pushing and pulling her out of dressing rooms and making her try on dresses that she didn't even feel comfortable in, let alone professional in. They'd compromised, as usual, and only then did Lucy agree that they could call it a day.

Mina had tried to insist that she could go home on her own, but it seemed Eddie wasn't the only one acting a bit overly cautious since the whole attacked-in-an-alley-and-getting-her-wrist-broken thing. At least she would rarely be without escort for the time being. Lucy had given her a big kiss on the cheek, promised to see her on Friday for the gallery show, and waited by the curb until the front door had closed behind Mina before heading back home herself.

Mina groaned and rolled onto her back to look at the ceiling. "God help me if I ever get engaged," she murmured, chuckling. If she thought regular shopping was tiring, bridal shopping would surely be a hundred times worse—especially when Lucy  _ wasn’t  _ the bride-to-be.

For the time being, it looked like a night with her favorite girls and a whole box of instant mac 'n' cheese all to herself. She popped one of her favorite scary movies in, and settled in for a quiet night.

Eddie and Venom's evening, conversely, only got more and more rowdy. They laughed uproariously at the television, ate one whole pizza, drank their body weight in soda and water, and Eddie cursed Venom out whenever he had to get up for a bathroom break and Venom refused to pause the television. He swayed like a cobra ready to strike, elongated and stretched taut from sofa to bathroom, to ensure that he could continue watching the show.

_ "I believe that it is in fact his dog, not his wife," _ Venom said, chuckling, when the toilet flushed.

"I think Kelly's the wife!" Eddie called back as he re-entered the room and dropped heavily back onto the sofa. He gave a content sigh. "After this episode, you wanna go find some bad guys?"

Venom grinned wider, nestling onto Eddie's shoulder.  _ "I hope there's lots of 'em tonight." _

"Yeah. We'll hit the bay. I'm feeling seafood," Eddie said with a grin. Okay, so maybe he  _ did _ enjoy getting rid of bad guys more than he ever liked to admit. It hit on a mild vindictive streak of his that he wasn't entirely aware of.

...He wasn't too keen on the aftertaste though. 

_ "Salty," _ Venom chuckled, the sound rumbling around Eddie's skull—a not altogether unpleasant sensation.

Venom was entirely aware of Eddie's not-so-mild vindictive streak, and wholeheartedly, yet subtly, encouraged in it. Reveled in it. It was wonderful, and he sometimes wished he'd showcase it more often. So what if it wasn't entirely "socially acceptable"? It made Eddie feel good, and that was what mattered.

Eddie was a proper breeding ground for negativity and violence, and yet it amazed Venom that he was such a...kind person in spite of all that. He really was. Sure, he could be an asshole from time to time, but who couldn't? At his core, though, Venom knew Eddie Brock was good.

Venom had access to memories that even Eddie himself couldn’t recall; as such, if he ever did decide to burn the whole world down... Well, Venom would be right there with him supporting that decision and knowing that Eddie was entirely justified.

And doing some more reveling of it all in the process. It was what a good symbiote would do for their human host, after all.


	7. Collaborative Preparations

Much of the rest of their week passed the same as the previous one had, though Mina spent a lot of time Skype-ing with Trevor to at least attempt to oversee any changes to her parts of the gallery. There were a couple pieces she'd finished before she’d been injured that she still had to get there and hang on the walls, but she was planning on transporting them in Lucy's car when she gave her a ride on Friday afternoon. It wouldn't be the first time she'd (carefully) shoved painted canvas into the backseat of her car. Besides, Lucy liked to feel useful with these things. Apparently coming to every showing wasn't enough, in her mind. Probably why she kept buying Mina outfits, too. She couldn't exactly fault Lucy for doing things because she was proud of her, of course; it was just the sort of sister she was.

Lucy stayed over the night before the showing, using Mina as a testing ground for some new eyeshadow shades she'd bought. It made watching the movie they'd picked difficult, but if that was the price she had to pay for a flawless makeup look the next evening, then so be it.

Lucy smirked as she swatched some lipstick shades on the inside of Mina's wrist. "Sorry this isn't as exciting as your last sleepover, sis."

Mina shook her head and chuckled. "Nothing happened, Luce."

"Well, yeah, I know, but... I mean, c'mon." She held up her hands like the balances of a scale. "Sexy man sleeping on your couch versus sharing a bed with your little sister." The hand that represented Eddie dropped down onto the sofa cushion, while the other raised up over her head.

Mina laughed. "Oh, so he's sexy, huh?"

She gave her a look, trying not to laugh. "I know I'm just a simple lesbian, but I do know an attractive man when I see one. So, yes, he wins out easy."

"Yeah, but can he do my makeup like you?"

"No one can you do your makeup like me." Lucy tapped one of the swatches on her wrist. "This one is the most kiss-proof shade I've ever worn. 2-hour makeout sesh, never even smudged. Hell, I had to scrub it off with toothpaste the next morning."

"That's the kind of endorsement I love to hear." Then she raised a penciled-in brow. "Why would I need kiss-proof lipstick for tomorrow night, sis?"

Lucy grinned. "Just in case."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay..." Eddie mumbled to himself as he stepped into the bedroom that he used to share with Anne. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet as he waited for Dan. It was weird how little had changed, and yet he felt totally alien and out of place standing in a room where he and Anne used to— No, no. He shouldn’t even fucking go there. 

"Alright, so let's see what we have here," Dan said as he stepped into the room and around Eddie towards the closet. "So, what exactly are you going for here?"

"Well, uh, no jeans. And no holes." Eddie was obviously uncomfortable, one arm wrapped across his chest, chewing on the skin around his thumbnail. "And maybe a nice jacket? I don't think I can fit into any of your shirts, but a jacket would probably work."

"Okay, okay, let's see... Basic black is always acceptable, of course." 

Thank god it was, or Eddie would've been out of luck clothing-wise years ago.

"Okay, let's try—Eddie, stop chewing—a couple things and see if you're comfortable in any of this," he said, laying a few options out on the bed.

When Eddie didn't immediately stop, and when Dan's back was turned, Venom yanked Eddie’s hand down to his side. He blinked, surprised, then realized he had been chewing a decent-sized hole into his thumb.

Dan pulled out two jackets and laid them on the end of the bed, as well as several pairs of pants. 

"I think these might fit you. They haven't been taken in yet, so..."

"You're a beanpole, yeah," Eddie said with a nod.

"To put it lightly," Dan said, chuckling. Then he gestured toward the door. "I'll just... Take your time," he assured with a nod. He left Eddie in the room, closing the door after him.

Eddie let out a long exhale, rubbing at the back of his neck.

_ "All this stress over clothing..." _ Venom rumbled.  _ "She's never seemed to care about what you've worn before." _

"I care," Eddie mumbled back, picking up one of the jackets. "This is important to her, so I care."

Venom gave a little hmph, twisting loosely in Eddie's already uneasy stomach.

Lucy was letting Mina scrub off all the practice makeup when she finally asked the question she knew they were both wondering about. "Is Jonathan gonna be there?"

"No," Mina replied, almost too quickly.

Lucy tied off the braid she was twisting into her long hair. "Because you don't want him to or...?"

"He sent his customary, 'I'm busy, but good luck' text the minute the date was announced. And again when I moved the date to tomorrow, though that time the excuse was that he had a dinner to go to." She looked at Lucy in the mirror. "So I'm thinking that's a 'no'."

Lucy nodded. "I wish I could say he wants to be there, but..."

"Lucy, I think we're both too old to lie to ourselves about those things. Besides, I don't want him there if he doesn't want to be there. I'm not nursing a grudge about it or anything. ...Anymore." She looked down at the remnants of the makeup now smeared on the damp cotton ball in her hand. "It'll be a good night, even if he's not there. It usually is."

Lucy looked at her reflection as well, then stood from the bed and wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders. "I love you."

Mina looked at her in the mirror again for a long moment, before gripping her arm and nudging her head against hers. "I love you too."

This...grudge, conflict, whatever they wanted to call it that she and Jonathan had been fostering over the years distressed Lucy, and Mina knew it. Lucy was the mediator, the peacekeeper. She could handle conflict, but she hated it more than most anything else. Mina wished that things were different, but she knew that, most of the time, there was just no changing people unless their heart was in it. And she'd been wondering for a very long time in Jonathan's heart ever was in it at all, or if it ever would be again.

Mina gave a little sigh, and turned her head to press a kiss to Lucy's cheek. "C'mon, let's go eat the rest of the ice cream I've got in the freezer."

Lucy chuckled. "Okay."

Eddie ended up leaving Annie and Dan's with a pair of pants and a jacket. He would just have to fudge the shirt. He was sure he had  _ something _ that would be appropriate. 

He returned to his apartment and carried the bag of clothes into the bedroom, setting them on the bedside table. "I'm gonna shower, then we can watch TV." They had eaten a considerable amount—of both food and bad guys—earlier in the evening, so there wasn’t pressing rush to do much of anything.

_ "Nine-nine?" _ Venom asked.

"Nine-nine." Eddie nodded with a smile. Then in a weird strange pattern that they had both gotten into... 

_ "Nine-Nine!" _

"Nine-Nine!"

Lucy fell asleep first that night, half-sprawled on top of Mina. She'd adjusted years ago, especially since Lucy was the hardest sleeper she'd ever met. She could get up, use the bathroom, and slip right back into her loose grip without ever waking her up. It was sort of adorable.

Before she nodded off, though, she unlocked her phone and sent a text to Eddie. They'd been texting a bit throughout the week, but she indulged the impulse right then because, well, why not?

_ can't wait to see you, and for you to see my work, tomorrow. sweet dreams, Eddie. _

She added a smiley face and a heart, hit send, and tucked her silenced phone under her pillow. Waiting to check for an answer until she woke up would be torture, but sometimes torturing herself was half the fun.

Eddie was already asleep when Mina's text came through. Venom was still up, though, rewatching episodes of  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ since they didn't feel like resting. Then Eddie's cell phone buzzed and lit up on the table by the sofa. They weaved closer to hover over it, and read the words plastered on the lit up screen for the few seconds they were available before the phone went dark again. They frowned and glanced back at Eddie before manipulating the man’s hands and fingers to send a reply.

_ I only have Sweet Dreams. _

Venom typed up the statement of fact because he didn't permit Eddie to have bad dreams.

_ See you tomorrow. _

He huffed and frowned once the phone went dark again. 

When she read the reply the next morning, Mina thought it was a little odd, but shrugged it off. The timestamp of the reply had been nearly midnight, after all. Her midnight texts probably sounded a little odd, too.

Regardless, she was quickly distracted by the sound of Lucy opening and closing cupboards in her kitchen. She shuffled out of the bedroom, stopping only to stretch her arm over her head. "What'cha lookin' for, sis?"

"Any semblance of actual food in this kitchen." She glanced over her shoulder. "Morning, by the way."

"Morning," she replied, throwing on her same cardigan, which she'd left on the couch the night before. She clicked her tongue and her dogs jumped up and ran over to the door. "We could always order out."

"That's your answer to everything, isn't it?" Lucy asked with a smile.

Mina shrugged. "It's not a bad answer."

Lucy shook her head as she stuck it into the fridge. "Well, I'm going to make you breakfast. Gotta make sure you're ready for tonight."

Mina laughed as she hooked her dogs' leashes onto their collars. "Luce, it's a gallery showing, not a marathon."

"And you'll be on your feet all night and forget to eat dinner like you always do, unless I remind you. Besides, you've probably got extra nerves tonight since Eddie's gonna be there."

"Okay, okay, I give," Mina replied with another laugh. "Fill me up, coach." She gave a long exhale as she went down the stairs with Angel and O'Brien, and hoped Lucy would at least have coffee ready by the time she got back. The showing didn't start until 6:30, but Mina would be spending most if not all of her evening there beforehand. Lucy had a point; wouldn't exactly be logical if she forgot to eat beforehand and was worn out halfway through the night. At least she'd have her shoulder angel with her reminding her of such things.

That and copious amounts of coffee could only help.

Eddie had a talk with Venom while he was in the shower after seeing that  _ he _ had texted Mina back last night—after he had gone to sleep. 

"You can't just text people for me, V!"

_ "You were asleep." _

"Yeah, but I would have seen it when I woke up!" he countered.

_ "Maybe she would have thought you were being rude." _

Okay, that was always possible, but still! "Look, thanks for not being an asshole, but please leave my texts for me. If it's really an emergency, then you can always wake me up." 

Venom gave a sound that sounded like a sigh, moving slightly behind Eddie's ribcage.  _ "Fine." _ He said it, but he wasn't sure yet what sort of message would constitute an emergency that would require him to wake Eddie up. As such, he didn't plan to do so. Eddie needed his required amount of sleep, after all. The woman's messages could wait, as far as he was concerned.

When they weren't eating, Lucy took it upon herself to straighten up as much of Mina's apartment as she possibly could. Mina was going through her canvases to find the few she wanted to take with them that evening, and kept saying from her corner that Lucy didn't have to do that, but, as usual, she didn't listen. She only interrupted Mina to lift her up off the floor and push her into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. God, was the day really going by so fast? Maybe her nerves were getting to her more than she thought they were.

As they had before the movie date—though this technically wasn't a date—, Eddie and Venom discussed etiquette for the evening while Eddie got ready.

"You have to stay hidden, you can't control my body."

_ "But Eddie, what if it is an emergency? Your human senses are so dull." _

"Okay, if it's an emergency than you have my permission to take control of my body," Eddie said as he pulled on the black trousers that Dan had loaned him. They were a little snug but not enough to be obnoxious. "And there will be absolutely  _ no _ eating anyone."

_ “What if there's a bad guy?" _

"That's the exception to the rule." He let out a quiet breath. "Also, there is no reason to panic when she hugs us. She might do it again when she sees me, and that's okay."

Venom rumbled a little.  _ "It is like the hand-holding, but...more. I'm not sure yet that I like it." _

" _ I _ like it," Eddie replied, then straightened up a little. "Hell, maybe I'll just hug her first before she can hug me."

Venom wasn't entirely sure if that was better or worse. He liked Eddie to feel good, and there was data enough to showcase that Eddie  _ did _ like hugs, and that hugs  _ did _ trigger a chemical response that was healthy for the human brain. But still.

Mina was barely done getting dressed before Lucy descended upon her, pinning her damp hair back from her face and beginning on her makeup. Mina tried to sit as still as possible, her eyes moving to look at what she could see of herself in the mirror or at her phone. Part of her was expecting a call from Trevor begging her to come earlier than she was already planning to be there; sometimes she wondered if he could function in that place without her second opinion, even when it had to do with his art and not hers. That was probably being a little dramatic, but then her injury had knocked him more off-kilter than she'd expected.

Mina only shifted when Lucy finally held up her hands, set the brush down, and stepped back. "Okay. You're perfect."

"Of course I am," Mina replied, inspecting the look in the mirror. "You did it, so of course it's perfect." She gave Lucy a smile.

Lucy beamed back, then started pulling the pins out of her hair. "I only accentuate what's already there, you beauty." She dropped the pins on the vanity. "Okay, you're free, go do your hair."

"Thanks, sis," she said, giving Lucy's hand a squeeze before going back into the bathroom.

When Mina returned, Lucy was already dressed and done-up, and Mina glanced at the clock on the wall. "I was in there, like, fifteen minutes."

"Yeah?"

"So you spend a half-hour on my makeup alone...?"

Lucy waved a hand. "Like how I look tonight matters."

Mina shook her head and grabbed her jacket off her bed. "Luce, did I forget to remind you that he's seen what I look like first thing in the morning with no makeup on?"

"Oh,  _ now _ you tell me." Lucy grinned. "Well, regardless, if this doesn't bowl him over tonight, I'll be shocked."

Mina looked at her reflection again. The outfit she and Lucy had compromised on was comprised of a fitted white turtleneck sweater tucked into a short (but still acceptably professional) black flared skirt. She wore black tights under the skirt, and low-heeled black ankle boots on her feet. She smiled, wine-colored lips parting as she did, fingers fiddling with the long necklace resting against her chest. "I  _ do  _ look pretty good, don't I?"

"'Pretty good'," Lucy replied dryly. "You're killing me. But we'd better get going before your partner has an attack."

Mina chuckled and grabbed up her phone and purse. She pointed out the three pieces that needed to go downstairs, and needlessly reminded Lucy to be careful with them. She herself was allowed to slide them around and stack them (possibly) haphazardly, but everyone else was required to treat them like the precious pieces they were.

Lucy looked one over as she picked it up. "And whose is this?"

Mina peeked over her shoulder. "Oh, cute girl I shook hands with at a coffee shop a while back." She gave a half-shrug. "She was pretty; I had to paint it."

"You're adorable. And so gay."

“So gay,” Mina agreed with a grin.

It took a couple trips to get the paintings downstairs, but then they were pulling out in Lucy's car and heading to the gallery. Mina didn't miss the days when she had to walk to the gallery on her own, hand-carrying her pieces—or even when she’d had to try to fit them into the back of a cab with her in it. And with her cast, it would have basically been impossible. Thank god for a sibling who owned a car and didn't mind helping out.

When they arrived, Mina went ahead of Lucy, unlocking the door and propping it open for her. At the sound, a voice came from the back of the gallery.

"I sense the arrival of my muse! Is it really her, back from the dead?!"

"I hope you haven't been telling people I'm dead," Mina replied with a grin.

A tall man with dark skin rounded a corner and approached her, long dreads swaying a bit as he walked. "The value of your work would skyrocket, so you  _ should _ be thanking me." He gripped her shoulders lightly before pulling her in for a hug. "How's the arm?"

"Better. Just waiting for the cast to come off now." Then she narrowed her eyes at him as she leaned back. "You're shockingly calm for an open night. You worry me, Trevor."

He beamed proudly at her. "No, everything's fine. For once."

Her expression didn't change. "No overflowing toilet? Nothing's falling off the walls? All the lights are working?"

"No, no, and yes."

Mina scrunched her mouth up for a moment in a fake pout. "I leave this place for a couple weeks, and everything starts working smoothly."

"Shocking, I know." Then he moved around her to help Lucy bring the canvases in, and waited for Mina's direction on where to put them.

In the middle of that, she did a double take when Lucy started laying out permanent markers on the refreshment table next to the bottles of water. When Lucy caught her looking, she held one up and walked over to her. "I  _ did  _ mention the thing about people signing your cast. Though I'm gonna be first." And she lifted up her arm and started writing her name on the cast.

Mina shook her head. "You're a dork."

"Yes,” she replied simply, drawing a heart around her name.

Trevor slid closer and peeked over Mina's shoulder. "I call second signature."

"Fine, fine," Mina chuckled.

While Trevor was signing, Lucy leaned in close, chin almost resting on Mina's shoulder. "Maybe Eddie will be third," she teased, and Mina's cheeks turned pink.

Trevor gave a wide smile at Mina's expression. "Oh? And who is Eddie?"

Mina opened her mouth to reply, but Lucy beat her to it. "A very good-looking reporter who came to Mina's rescue after she was attacked."

"Oh?"

Mina shook her head. "That's not  _ exactly  _ what happened. Though he did take me to the hospital after." Her face was turning redder when she added, "And we've been on a couple dates since, no big deal."

"No big deal, uh-huh, sure," Trevor replied, passing the marker back to Lucy.

"Well, anyway, he's coming tonight, so you'll get to meet him and everything," Mina said.

"Great." Then he blinked and looked down at her. "Jonathan's not coming, is he?"

"No, thank god. I'd rather he and Eddie not meet for as long as possible."

As the time to leave the apartment drew nearer, Eddie grew more nervous. He fidgeted with his clothes and his hair and checked, double-checked, and triple-checked that he had everything he needed. The gallery wasn't exactly  _ open _ -open to the public; tickets were needed for this specific event. After all, they didn't want some random person wandering in off the street during a semi-formal event.

When he patted his pants pocket for the fifth time to be sure he had his ticket, Venom finally spoke up.  _ "Hmm, relax, Eddie. You clean up good," _ the low voice rumbled—nearly purred.  _ "And you have everything." _

"You're sure?" Eddie's brow wrinkled. He had this horrible feeling that he would forget something important. Hell, he'd forget his head if it weren't attached. 

_ "Unlikely. You and your head would likely not separate without considerable force, and you'd be very dead if that did happen. Not that we'd let you die." _

Eddie let out a bark of nervous laughter. "Thanks."

_ "It will be fine. Let's go. The sooner we go, the sooner we can leave." _

He grabbed his bike keys off of the counter, and they left the apartment, locking the lock with only some difficulty. Eddie always had issues with this lock; half the time, Venom had to be the one to unlock it for them. 

He let out a long breath as he trotted down the steps, feeling overdressed for their, truthfully, grimy apartment complex. His nerves were nearly enough to drown out that feeling, though. Nearly.

God, Venom was right; he needed to relax.

Mina might also have been nervously fussing over things if Trevor and Lucy weren't already doing that for her. Their chattering was canceling out some of her own nervous energy, thankfully. Instead of joining them, she was slowly walking the gallery, fiddling with her necklace again. She straightened a couple canvases here, a couple frames there... Trevor was right; for all his and Lucy’s back and forth over how the refreshment table should be arranged, everything was looking great.

She paused at the back of the gallery. The place was divided in half; well, technically, uneven thirds. A small section at the front had pieces from a select featured artist—usually one of their friends—that rotated every month. The section to the left was Mina's, and to the right was Trevor's. His framed photographs met her canvases where she was standing, where the few pieces that they'd more or less collaborated on could live together. These were the only ones in the building that they'd agreed never to sell, even if looking at them sometimes made her feel...well, not good. She was proud, to be sure, but also...maybe a little bitter.

She was humming to herself when Lucy approached. Lucy cut herself off mid-sentence, standing next to her sister and following her line of sight before putting a loose arm around her shoulders. "They're still my favorite," she said quietly.

Mina chuckled once through her nose. "Mine too," she admitted. Mixed emotions aside, it was true. Then she looked at her with a slightly furrowed brow. "You like these even more than your collection?"

Lucy smiled. "Well, if I'm being honest, those  _ are _ my favorites. But I get to look at those every day. These are different."

Mina's smile widened a little. "You were saying something?"

"Hmm? Oh, it looks like people are starting to show up."

"Oh, great. Has Trevor pulled himself together?"

"As much as the man can." She hooked her arm in Mina's. "At least us disaster gays have each other."

Mina laughed. "True." She took a deep breath and patted Lucy's hand. "Okay, let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised, another short chapter! and there's a huge monster of a chapter coming this weekend--the longest one yet! thank you all for all the kudos and lovely comments; it really means the world to us. ^u^ thank you for reading!


	8. The Gallery

Eddie had carefully planned their route. He didn't want to be the first person to arrive—that would be creepy and potentially weird—, but he also didn't want to be late.

He arrived about ten minutes after the official opening time, and parked his bike in a free parking garage two blocks away. He walked the rest of the way, and then dusted his shoes before pushing open the door to show his ticket.

He had been to one other art gallery before; it wasn't like _the_ Eddie Brock hadn't been to events similar to this. He was an investigative reporter, after all... And his photographs weren't half-bad, in his opinion. But that had been work, and he'd been a bit more invested in the _who_ than the _what_ . Today was more about the _what_ . ...And maybe a little about the _who_.

 _“So many snacks,”_ Venom hummed as they entered, but, of course, he remembered that Eddie had rules in place. There would be no snacking on guests at the art gallery, unless under the most dire circumstances. The symbiote could only hope for such a turn of events.

A short woman with long blonde hair was checking tickets by the door, smiling politely at everyone. Something in her smile changed a little, though, when she looked at Eddie, almost as if she recognized him. Not that that was totally unusual; he _had_ once hosted a fairly popular and widely circulated webshow. But this was different. ...And a little familiar.

"Hi," she greeted brightly, barely looking at his ticket he handed her. "I'm Lucy. Thanks for joining us tonight."

He returned her smile, brow creasing ever so slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Eddie. And yeah, I'm... I'm really excited to see what it's all about," he said as he stepped farther inside.

His first inclination was to immediately seek out Mina, but, beyond doing a quick scan of the room, he resisted. Barely.

Lucy must've been more observant than he thought because she leaned a little closer and asked, "Looking for the lady of the hour?" She looked around a little more obviously than he had. "She's around here somewhere..."

Mina was around a corner finishing up an incredibly shortened version of the "what happened to my arm" story. As far as most everyone there was concerned, all she was the victim of was an attempted mugging. She didn't need to go into the other details with clients.

The couple she was talking to moved away just as Trevor approached her. "Hey, Mina, I think your boy's here. Guy just walked in, and he looks kinda familiar. Brownish hair, scruff…?”

"Oh," she replied, smoothing down her hair. "Do I look okay?"

"You're gorgeous; don't fidget," he replied with a light swat at her hand. He chuckled. "God, you're fine for hours during setup, and now you panic?"

She exhaled. "I'm nervous, okay? I really like him."

"I don't blame you." He walked next to her as she moved back towards the front of the gallery. "He's thick. ...Or is it just his clothes?"

She shook her head. "No, he's thick. I've hugged him more than once."

"Ooh, hugging—scandalous."

She gave him a half-hearted look, then stopped in her tracks when she saw Eddie where he was standing talking to Lucy. Shit, had her heart stopped? He looked good. Ridiculously good. "There's no way those are his clothes."

"What d'you mean?"

"He usually wears, like, holey jeans and faded t-shirts."

"So, like, garbage?"

"Yeah, garbage that I'd like to climb like a tree," she murmured, just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

Trevor chuckled again. "Go get 'im, tiger."

She took another breath, gave him a little smile, and started closer towards them.

Eddie stood awkwardly next to Lucy. She wasn’t quite touching him, but her intent to keep him close was obvious in her body language. He glanced away whenever her gaze roamed; he didn’t want to be rude, but he also wanted to keep an eye out for Mina. He kept looking, until his eyes landed on...

_“Your pulse has quickened.”_

_Shut up... She's gorgeous,_ he thought back, his breath momentarily lost as he took in her appearance. Even with the clunky cast, she looked amazing.

Lucy was grinning like the cat that ate the canary, but Mina only had eyes for Eddie. Her heart was veritably palpitating, making her breaths come a little shorter. "Hi," was all she could manage; it sounded breathless and she didn't care one bit.

A crooked smile curled the corner of Eddie's lips, only offering the tiniest flash of his teeth.

 _“I suppose she looks fine,”_ Venom huffed. He was trying to be good, but he wasn't entirely thrilled to be there.

"Hi," Eddie replied, voice a touch quiet. "You look great."

"Thanks," she replied, smile widening. "So do you." She let out a quiet chuckle. "Should've told me you clean up this good, Eddie."

"Oh, well...we're both surprised," he said, cheeks warming ever-so-slightly.

Venom prickled a little. So, Eddie wouldn't accept it when they said that he cleaned up nicely, but he would when _she_ said it? Typical.

The blush in her cheeks darkened and she chuckled again. Only then did she see the look on her sister's face, and she cleared her throat. "Oh, uh, she probably didn't introduce herself properly, but I see you met Lucy, my sister."

Ah, so _that_ was where he'd seen that look before. Now that they were standing next to each other, it seemed obvious. That family resemblance… They were definitely sisters.

Lucy grinned wider. "Great to finally meet you, Eddie. Mina never shuts up about you."

The tips of her ears started burning as she gave Lucy a look.

He raised his brows a little as he shook her hand. "Oh, yeah? Well, I hope she's only said good things." He gave her a smile as he released her hand.

"Oh, the things she's said—"

"Lucy," Mina cut in, eyes wide.

Lucy just grinned back.

Mina looked back at Eddie and cleared her throat again. "We'll see you later, sis," she said, starting to lead Eddie away.

"Enjoy, Eddie," Lucy replied in a sing-song voice.

Mina sighed again and gave Eddie an apologetic look. "Ever since she got married, she lives vicariously through me."

"Married, huh?" He supposed he shouldn't be entirely surprised. "How old is she, out of curiosity?" he asked as he let Mina lead him away through the gathered crowd.

Mina had to think about it for a second; keeping ages straight was getting harder and harder the older they all got. "Twenty-eight. She and Beverly have been married...god, gotta be more than four years now."

"Twenty-eight? Never would have guessed. You guys have some good genetics."

“Thanks,” she said with a little smile.

He chuckled. "And four years, wow." His brows rose. "That's great. Good for them." He wasn't at all phased by the fact that Lucy was apparently married to a woman. He had been born and raised in San Francisco; nothing really phased him.

She didn't let on, but casually mentioning Lucy being married to a woman had been something of a test. She generally found if someone she was dating had a problem with her sister being gay, they had even _more_ of a problem with her being bi. Besides which, she’d thrown people out on their asses before for making remarks about her sister and her wife. So hearing him casually accept it was a nice reassurance.

She smiled. "Yeah, they're the ultimate power couple; I love 'em." Then she stopped and looked up at him. "I know you said you’d come, of course, but I'm really glad you're here." She gestured towards the rest of the gallery. "Would you like the guided tour?"

He beamed down at her. In heels, she wasn't that much shorter than him, but even so...

"I would love the guided tour." He let her lead him. "And of course I’m here. I've been looking forward to this. I only got a glimpse of the paintings hung up on your walls when I was over."

"Ah, those are my garbage children," she said, but there was a fondness in her voice. "I slave over them, but keep them close because I know no one else will properly appreciate them." She stopped in front of the first section of her pieces. "These, on the other hand, get to see the light of day."

On the long white wall were groupings of different sized canvases. Each grouping seemed to have similar color schemes, as if each piece was a progression of the previous one in the group. The first in each was utterly abstract—mixes of colors in broad and thin strokes alike. Some looked like sunsets, and others like galaxies. And then the series would continue until the final piece, which depicted a real thing or setting.

She looked at him for a moment before looking back at the wall. "The concept is sort of out there, and I promise I'll explain it," she assured when she saw how intensely he was looking at the paintings.

Eddie was the first to admit he didn't know shit about art. He basically just knew whether something was pretty or not, and, even then, he knew that that was subjective. He did, however, find the splatters of purples on the nearest canvas appealing.

He gave her a little smile. “Okay, so…?”

"Oh, okay,” she said. “So, ever since I was a kid, I've had this thing where, after I touch someone—shake their hand, hug them, whatever—I can see their auras." She gestured at the air in front of her. "Almost like this haze around them. Different colors and shifting designs... Very distracting for me when I was a kid," she said with a chuckle. "You can tell a lot about a person from what their aura looks like, especially since the core of it rarely changes much. And then I started painting and... Well, it just seemed natural to paint things that, as far as I knew, only I could see. That's what the first piece is: the closest representation of how I see their unfiltered aura. Then I repaint it again and again until..." She gestured to the final piece in the one that started with the splatters of purple—an overcast sky over a beach lined with heathers. "...I get something that looks like this. Abstract, filtered down to realism."

She also didn't say so, but this was another sort of test. She'd had people laugh in her face when she explained all this. Sure, it was out there, but...it was hers.

"Auras, huh?" he asked, a tiny spark of skepticism in his tone, but his body language showed nothing but intrigue. He leaned in to look at the final product a little closer, hands in his pockets. "So, since this isn't a person, obviously, do you sort of just pick up general auras, not just with people?" He vaguely recalled reading once that everything gave off energy patterns— trees, rocks, things like that, and natural and manmade alike.

She straightened up a little, almost surprised at his question. "Oh, uh, sometimes, yes. I think I was more sensitive to non-human auras when I was younger." She moved a little closer as he had, nodding to the final painting in the series in front of them. "This one's my friend Trevor's. He's a pretty chill person, but there's always a sense of impending panic wafting off of him. Hence the otherwise calm scene being overcast." She gave a small sigh, looking over the pieces. "My brother thinks it's a manifestation of synesthesia mixed with strong empathic tendencies, but..." She gave a half-shrug and a little smile. "...I like to think it's something else."

"Even if it is just those things, that doesn't take away any of its credibility," Eddie said as he rounded her to look at the next set; he was curious to see the other pieces. "And, if it is some sort of clairvoyance or something, I mean… It just makes you unique and more special." They lived in a world of mutants and aliens and superheroes, so...if she could see weird foggy colors around people and things, who was he or anyone else to say she couldn’t?

She smiled, turning her gaze to follow him as he walked. It was that fond smile that she seemed to reserve just for him, even if he wasn't looking all the time.

"Thank you," was all she could think to say, then she shifted her weight and moved after him. "Any curiosity as to what yours looks like?"

He glanced back at her, gaze lidded, brow quirked, small smile in place. "Maybe a little." He turned fully towards her again.

The people who didn't laugh in her face were usually curious, so it wasn't a surprise, but her smile widened a little anyway. "Thought you might be." She held out her hand, palm up, and watched him glance between her face and her hand for a moment before resting his hand in hers.

That fond smile returned as her eyes shifted over the air around his head, and she studied it for a few seconds before she spoke. "You know how drops of dye look when you put them in water? That's sort of what yours looks like. Streams of colors mixing and shifting into each other in very stark contrast to everything else... Lots of red. That's understandable; you're a very passionate person," she said, nodding. "Some strands of pink mixed in…” Given that she was holding his hand, that wasn’t surprising either. She considered teasing him about it, but resisted. “The really interesting part to me, though, is... I've never seen this before, but it looks like there's stretches of black just...intertwined with everything else. They're very clearly part of the rest, but...their texture is different." She gave him a reassuring look. "Also black isn't automatically negative; it's just the way it looks that strikes me."

 _“That would be us,”_ Venom purred.

Eddie smiled. The red surprised him, the black not so much. Venom was definitely a part of him, so it made sense that he would be an obvious aspect of it. "Red and black, huh? At least I'm fashionable," he chuckled, then cocked a brow. "So...I thought you could see people’s auras whenever you wanted after you touched them…?"

She raised a brow back, grinning. "Yeah, I can." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Was just looking for an excuse to hold your hand."

"You don't need an excuse." He returned the squeeze.

_See, it's not so bad. Holding hands is just...a human thing. We do it all our lives._

Venom just rumbled back.

The tips of her ears were burning again, and her attempts to suppress her wide smile were futile. "Good. Neither do you." She let their clasped hands swing down between them and intertwined their fingers as she lead him onward.

They passed a small collection of pretty standard San Francisco landscape pieces. She quietly confided that tourists sometimes turned up at the gallery, and she didn't exactly feel shame at using their love of anything with the Golden Gate Bridge on it to her advantage from time to time.

Trevor caught up with them around then, introducing himself to Eddie and thankfully not trying too hard to embarrass her. He did, however, hand off a permanent marker to Eddie and tell him to sign her cast, and made a passing prediction that Eddie was sure to have a particular interest in the subject of some of his pieces. Then he pressed a big kiss to the side of Mina's head and disappeared back to the other side of the gallery, Mina swatting at him as he went.

Eddie raised a brow, chuckling softly, and she gave him that apologetic look again. "I, uh... Well, you'll see, but he sometimes enlists me to be the subject of his photos. He calls me his 'muse', but I know at least part of it is because I can do my own hair and makeup, and I'll work for him for free." She raised her cast up a little. "And pick any spot you like, if you wanna sign it."

"Of course I do," he replied. He uncapped the marker and carefully held her cast, supporting her arm as he picked a spot.

“ _What is this for?”_ Venom asked. He knew what pens were for, but, in this context, he was a little lost. After all, when Eddie had had his own casts as a kid, he hadn’t had any signatures, so the symbiote didn't have anything to go off of.

_When humans get hurt like this, it's sort of customary to have friends and family sign the cast. Sort of as a way to cheer you up._

_“Your casts didn't have any.”_ It was less a statement of fact than a bemused wondering.

Eddie signed his name, and even doodled a little figure.

_Yeah. That's because I didn't have friends._

Venom pondered the cast, and the custom. They knew the levity with which Eddie thought of not having friends was not real; they knew Eddie better than that.

And they looked at Mina’s cast, and all its signatures. It made them bitter. Why did she get signatures? Signs of friendship when Eddie did not? Did Eddie not deserve those things too?

He smiled and released her arm, recapping the pen. "There you go." He had signed his name, and drawn a little figure with a black hoodie on.

She chuckled at the doodle, nose scrunching up at the corners. "It's adorable, I love it."

It had been so long since she'd had a cast that she forgot how much lighter it felt after people signed it. Sure, when she was a kid, it was mostly used for her siblings to draw on (the day Lucy realized that gel pens and casts didn't play well together lived on in infamy for many years at the Bell household), and the cast was still annoying, but... It was nice to look down and see all the names on it. Like wearing a get-well card until she was well again.

"Good, I'm glad. Now, let's see those photographs," he said with a grin and his own slight wrinkle to his nose.

Mina let out a very quiet sigh of relief to herself as she lead Eddie to Trevor's side of the gallery. She wasn't ready to face that back wall yet, not just yet. She wondered if it was because she didn't want to explain them to Eddie, or because she really wanted to. Not that she was obligated, but... If her aura paintings were personal, then the paintings and pictures on the back wall were deeply personal—even if no one else quite understood that when they looked at them.

And, right then, she knew she'd rather talk to Eddie about Trevor's black and white portraits of herself that stemmed back to the ones when they'd met in art school that she could chuckle fondly at, and that stretched all the way to earlier that year when he'd decided to turn people's tattoos into more than just a picture or words on a person's skin. He'd wanted to color-correct them, make them leap off the picture in contrast to the person's monochromatic skin. He'd wanted to hang them in a gallery, to frame them like the art he always said they were. And Mina, of course, having more tattoos than most of anyone else they knew, had been roped not-so-unwillingly into it.

Photography was much more Eddie's speed. Sure, what he studied in school and what he did back in the day weren’t exactly what you'd call art, but he could more readily understand it than paintings.

Mina had always seen photography as a little more obvious than what she did, especially Trevor's. Not that she looked down on it, but he almost exclusively captured realism. He dabbled in the abstract and sometimes nonsensical, but, where she captured aspects of people, he captured _just_ people—how they were in a moment. She admired him for it; capturing people as they lived and breathed had never been her strong point.

It always felt a little surreal, though, seeing her own tattoos that she more or less saw every day framed up on a wall to be admired like art.

"These are all you?" he asked with a look back at her, pointing to the pictures with a smile. "Wow." They were good. A touch simple, but there was an obvious passion to them.

She smiled back, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, uh... Yeah, they’re mostly me.” She chuckled. “He always got so excited every time I got a new one. Thought it was just because we were friends, but turns out he had this ulterior motive,” she joked.

Her gaze lingered on perhaps the largest one of her—a long tattoo that ran almost the entire length of her spine. A thorny red rose with a cobra loosely wound around it. The other pieces on her back had been digitally removed, though a small grouping of scars on her left shoulder blade remained. And there was just a slight glimpse of her jaw and mouth before the picture ended.

She squeezed his hand and looked up at him. “Don’t let him know you’ve got tattoos; he might start propositioning you for pictures.”

"Oh, well, glad I've got this jacket," he replied with a chuckle. The shirt he was wearing underneath was short-sleeved; but, for the moment, all his tattoos were covered, as hers were. "They look really great. I can see why he calls you his muse."

“Thanks,” she said with another smile. “I think they’re pretty good too.” She wanted to make some joke about how much of her he’d seen now, even though the photos were far from nude or pornographic, but she held back. She loved teasing him, but they were starting to move towards the back of the gallery again, and she knew she couldn’t quite hold off any longer.

“I saved our best pieces for last,” she said. “Or I like to think so, anyway. That’s why we put them back here.”

"Oh, yeah?" He followed her, hands in his pockets again. A lot of people would have put their best work front and center; he kind of liked that she didn't.

"They're the only self-portraits I've ever done. Well, done and even remotely liked the finished product. And then Trevor loved them so much that, well...he decided to recreate them. I knew the two sets needed to be together, so..."

They rounded a corner, and she didn't stop until she was standing in between the four canvases on her left and the four photo recreations on the right. Her hands began to tremble, and she clasped them as best she could in front of her.

They were all self-portraits, as she'd said—all in profile, showing her from her collar up. In the first, along a line on her head, a row of flowers grew up—foxgloves and baby's breath—, almost like a crown. Clear blue tears ran down her face.

In the second, a golden hand had entered the frame, gripping her chin. The flowers were beginning to wilt, but there was almost a look of relief on her face.

In the third one, the flowers were gone, replaced by flames. The golden hand was now clamped around her throat, and blood dripped down from her eyes and from beneath the flames, soaking her hair and skin. The gold was spreading from the hand and onto her skin, suffocating her.

In the final one, the hand and the gold were gone, and black ashes were smeared on her face. Her eyes were open and clear, looking at a blue butterfly resting delicately on her hand, and small blooms were beginning to grow up from the ashes on her now-shaved head.

Strangers looking at these could speculate all they liked; she could calmly accept praise or comments. But when it was someone she knew, even if they didn't know what they meant or represented... It almost made her want to cry. Painting them had felt like flaying herself and using her own blood to create them. Recreating the pictures had felt like a release, like progress—like screaming instead of crying. But the paintings... Even if they didn't know, she was laying herself bare up on the wall in front of them. She had hung up her secrets in full view of strangers, and was constantly walking a tightrope to decide how much to tell and how much to conceal. Truthfully, she did more concealing than telling.

She swallowed away a lump in her throat and tried to joke, "I always reassure people that we didn't actually light my head on fire for the recreation."

He didn't respond when she spoke. Eddie wasn't looking at the photographs. In fact, his gaze was entirely focused on the paintings.

He might not have understood art and paintings in the sense that he could critique it, but he knew enough to know when a proper story was being told. He might not always have understood every brush stroke, but, in this case, he didn't need to.

She looked at him when he didn't reply, studying his face and feeling her nerves start to settle—if only a little. He'd surprised her more than once that evening with what he'd said, but now he was surprising her with what he wasn't saying. No uneasy chuckling, no comment at how weird her self-expression was, no cursory glance and polite nod before moving on. He was engaging with it, taking it in. She found herself smiling a little in spite of her nerves.

No words would really help console her, confirm his understanding, empathy, or sympathy. Words weren't enough. So, rather than open his mouth and say something wrong, he just straightened after a time and reached over to take her hand.

She looked down at their hands, surprised yet again. Now he could surely tell she was shaking, but she didn't care. She just squeezed his hand, stepping closer until their shoulders brushed. "Thank you," she said quietly. It was all she could think to say.

He nodded a little and lightly bumped her shoulder back. He was glad he'd come. Glad he hadn't googled her. Glad he waited to see her artwork in person.

She chuckled once, then leaned into him as she released his hand. She looped her arm loosely around his middle, giving him a sort of side-hug. His arm rested over her upper back, hand on her shoulder. He was warm, even through the jacket and her sweater.

His silence was probably the nicest thing anyone had said about these pieces in a long time.

When they eventually moved on, he refocused their conversation onto her other pieces and went and got her a drink. It was his way of letting her calm down without saying as much. He didn't want her to think he didn't care, but he also didn't want her to linger too long on such heavy emotions. She had mingling to do, after all.

She appreciated what was left unsaid, and the questions unasked. Stories and explanations could wait for another night, and she wished she could thank him right then for his patience. The quiet understanding they shared would have to do for the time being.

She found her smile coming a little easier as time passed, and was ready and willing for more people to sign her cast. It helped to have Eddie with her, like a steadying, understanding presence holding her up even when he wasn't touching her.

She was finally getting back into the swing of things when Lucy wove her way through the guests and lightly grabbed her arm to get her attention. "Mina, there's a, uh... A bit of a problem."

Mina gave a small sigh. "Is it a plumbing or electrical problem? Or did someone spike the punch again?"

Lucy held her gaze as she shook her head. "No, it's... Jonathan just walked in."

Mina's eyes widened. "What? But, I... He said he had a dinner."

Lucy shook her head again, at a loss. "I don't know, but he's here."

Mina let out a long breath. "Cool, coolcoolcoolcool, awesome..."

Eddie perked a little, brow cocked. "Your brother?" he asked.

"Yeah, I thought he wasn't coming tonight," she replied. "To be honest, I was hoping to spare you from meeting him for at least a little while longer."

"Oh, well..." He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, I can handle it."

_“Who the hell is this Jonathan guy? Is he trouble?”_

_I don't know. Probably._

"I certainly hope so." Then she looked back at Lucy. "Okay, I guess we're doing this," she said quietly.

Lucy nodded. "Okay. I'll go find him." And she slipped away again. Better to have Jonathan come to her instead of the two of them stumbling upon each other later on.

Mina took a deep breath and turned to look at Eddie. Despite her obvious anxiety, she gave him a genuine smile. "Best piece of advice I can give you is not to take any comments he makes personally. That's my job."

"Believe me, nothing he's going to say will be new to me," he said, rolling his shoulders and steadying himself as Venom coiled up closer to the base of his skull.

Mina felt herself grin. It was like Eddie was squaring up for a physical fight. She liked it—maybe a little more than she should have.

"Oh, there she is," she heard Lucy say a little too loudly, and Mina gave another sigh and turned back around.

Jonathan had gotten all the height in the family, which still left him lacking when put against the national average. He only had a couple inches on Eddie, but was very slight in comparison. He had Mina's same dark hair and blue eyes, and— God, was he wearing a three-piece suit? Really?

Mina put on her most polite smile, and Jonathan returned it in kind. "Surprised?" he asked.

"Very," she replied as he gave her shoulder a little squeeze. "I thought you said you had a dinner."

"We had to reschedule, so thought I'd drop by and see how you're doing." His brow furrowed. "You're not wearing the sling."

She sighed. "It's been nearly three weeks, and my shoulder doesn't hurt anymore. I'm fine. I'm doing fine. It's been a great night," she assured, keeping her tone calm.

Then it was as if he noticed her clothes for the first time. "You're certainly dressed up."

"Lucy bought me a new outfit,” was all the explanation she gave.

He raised a brow, then finally looked at Eddie, and realization crossed his face. "I don't believe we've met."

Mina cleared her throat just as her heart was sliding up into it. "Jonathan, this is my friend Eddie Brock. Eddie, my brother Jonathan."

As he extended his hand, Eddie plastered on his schmaltziest smile—the one he'd always used on diplomats and politicians and the like back in New York. "Pleasure."

 _“We don't like this guy,”_ Venom hissed.

Eddie could feel Mina’s tension next to him. _Nope, not at all._

Jonathan’s expression didn’t change as he shook Eddie’s offered hand. “Likewise.”

Mina gave a quick proud smirk Eddie’s way before Jonathan drew her attention when he asked, “Would you mind if I borrow my sister for a minute?” He didn’t wait for an answer before he started away, and Mina gave Eddie an apologetic look again before she followed after him. They didn’t go far, just around the nearest corner.

Lucy gave a little sigh. “I’m gonna go find Trevor, just in case we have to do some damage control. You okay here?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Don’t worry about me,” Eddie assured, and Lucy nodded before slipping away again.

He could hear the tones of Mina’s voice from around the corner, and felt Venom shifting at the base of his skull. Without exchanging a word, they moved a little closer to hear better. Just in case they also had to do some damage control.

“You never dress this nice for these things.”

“I resent that,” she replied. “I always like to dress up for these nights.” She shifted her weight. “Look, do I come down to your office and criticize how you dress, Mr. Three-Piece-Suit?”

He narrowed his eyes a little. “I feel like you would if you could.”

"Point is, I don't. And I'll tell you again, even though I know you know, but this is part of my job. If you wanna criticize how I dress for these things, you can call my answering service."

He gave a small chuckle, corner of his mouth quirking up. "You seeing that Brock guy?"

She blinked. "I don't see how that's your business."

"You're my sister."

She gave a little sigh. "Let me add a part two to my previous question: Do I come down to your office and pester you about your love life?"

"Not since I got married." He shifted his weight in almost identical fashion to how she’d done it. "C'mon, sis, that guy? You're really going to let this happen again?"

She felt her pulse start to quicken, but her voice didn't waver. "Just because you have ‘Doctor’ in front of your name doesn't mean you can accurately psychoanalyze people with a cursory look and a handshake."

He chuckled again. “No, no, the handshake thing is your area of expertise, if I’m not mistaken.”

She gave him a look, sighing through her nose. "Fine. Yes, I'm seeing him. We met a few weeks ago, and we’ve only been on a couple dates." Her head tilted slightly as she looked up at him. "And I know this won't make a difference to you, but I like him. A lot."

"Of course you do; he's exactly your type." It wasn’t a compliment—to her or to Eddie.

She scoffed. Might as well get to the point of all this, if he intended to keep this up. "Would you stop holding everyone in my life, including me, accountable for what _one_ person did to me, Jonathan?"

"Will you say the same after I'm called to the ER to sign paperwork to get your scalp stitched up—again?"

She let out a long sigh through her flared nostrils, cheeks turning red with frustration. She ran her hand over her hair to keep it from clenching into a fist at her side. "Eddie's not him, and he very much deserves for you to give him a chance. He's different."

Jonathan shook his head. "You glean that from his aura or something?"

"I gleaned that when he picked me up off the ground of the alley and took me to the hospital to get my wrist set."

He was quiet at that.

"And he stayed with me, and made sure I got home safely, and... I know this sounds like some really bare-minimum stuff to you, Jonathan, and that you think I shouldn’t be giving him a pat on the back for being decent, because everyone should always act perfect and cordial in your universe. But not everyone does, and not everyone does to _me_ , as you well know. He’s very nice, and very sweet. So I'm seeing him. I really like him. And I think he really likes me too." She looked up at him earnestly. "And if for no other reason than the fact that your sister might have been a lot worse off without him that night, you owe it to him to give him a chance."

He raised a brow, thinking on that for a few seconds, and then replied, "And if I would rather not...?"

Her earnest expression fell. "That's your choice. But, uh..." She stepped a little closer. "Remember a couple years ago when that wastebasket fire started in your office? And you never knew who did it?"

He stared at her, eyes widening. Then he scoffed. "That wasn't you."

She just raised a brow.

He sighed. "Fine, fine... I'll...be polite."

"That's all I'm asking. Just lay off."

"Eddie Brock... Do I want to know why I recognize his name?"

"You can google him when you get home for all I care. Just be nice right now. Because I’m asking you to be. Make that ‘telling you’.”

“Keep it ‘asking’.”

She gave him another look.

He sighed. “Fine."

She nodded, then lead the way back around the corner to where they'd left Eddie and Lucy.

Eddie was examining a piece on the wall, hands in his pockets, mild look of appreciation on his face. It wasn't for the art, though, but rather for Mina. She’d handled that asshole pretty well. He was impressed.

She was feeling pretty proud of herself too. Many was the time that Jonathan had shown up and disrupted an entire event, but not tonight; she wasn’t going to let him.

“Hey,” she greeted as they approached, resting a hand on his arm.

"Hey." He smiled at her, and pulled his hand out of his pocket and slid it along her middle back. "You're really amazing, you know that?" Screw hand-holding. Screw her brother. So what if he didn’t like him? He was going to make him uncomfortable while being perfectly polite.

The touch and the compliment sent a pleasant little shock down her spine, and she could feel her face getting warm as she smiled up at him. “Oh, I don’t hear that nearly often enough,” she said, leaning into him. “Are you just saying so because you overheard some of the nice things I said about you?”

"What, you did? Aww. What'd you say?" he asked, all smiles, gently bumping her. "I hope they're all true things."

"Oh, only the truest," she assured, smile widening as she bumped him back. A small part of her was grateful he didn't appear to have heard what Jonathan had brought up. That was something for a later discussion.

She could feel Jonathan rolling his eyes behind her, but couldn't quite bring herself to care. If they'd kissed already, she would've planted one on Eddie right then, not only because she simply wanted to, but also to make Jonathan even more uncomfortable.

And, sure, she knew that was most likely why Eddie was suddenly a lot more touchy-feely than he'd been all night, but she also couldn't bring herself to care about that. She was going to let him, and she was going to encourage and indulge.

Jonathan cleared his throat, maybe a little louder than he needed to. "So, Eddie, what is it that you do?"

He turned his attention to Jonathan, but didn't release his hold on Mina as they turned.

"I'm a journalistic reporter." It was his new title. He still did investigative reporting, but not as much as before.

Mina saw a flicker of surprise on Jonathan's face, but only because she knew his expressions so well. He'd probably been predicting "bartender" or something. Her? Dating someone with a legit career? Shocking.

"And he's wonderful at it," she praised, tilting her head against his shoulder and resting her hand against his back.

"I wouldn't say ‘wonderful’, but definitely motivated." He grinned. "The truth is very important to me."

Jonathan gave a little nod, one hand in his pocket. "Is that a bit of New England I detect in your accent?"

Mina's expression didn't change, but she did give a little sigh through her nose. She supposed she couldn't have expected him to not interrogate Eddie at least a little bit; it was practically in his blood—jumping from one question to the next without making much conversation in-between. He’d been doing it to her and Lucy’s dates since they were teens.

"Brooklyn. Worked there a long time.” He gestured to himself. “Picked it up; never quite shook it." A lot of people assumed he had been born in Brooklyn, that he’d lived there his whole life. Truth was, he was a San Francisco rat. Always had been, always would be. Probably one of the reasons he had such little issue just up and leaving New York to follow Annie back here.

"Ah, I see." He gestured to Mina. "Don't suppose my sister told you what I do?"

"I'm afraid not. We hadn't quite gotten that far. Covered the gallery, her incredible art," he said, looking at Mina with a warm smile and adoring expression, "and the fact that Lucy has been married longer than most people these days." He looked back at Jonathan. "I guess she was saving you for the third date. Or, well, maybe the fourth." He smiled, but there was an edge behind his gaze. No sane woman would discuss their brother on a typical “third” date. Not that they were having typical dates, but Jonathan didn’t know that.

If Mina were to mention that their second official date ended in a sleepover and gave no further explanation, Jonathan would probably have a coronary right there in the gallery. She tucked that realization away for later, and put the rest of her focus on not losing her footing when Eddie looked at her like that (dear god) and on not laughing in Jonathan's face.

"Maybe the fourth," Mina agreed, nodding and grinning up at him. Then she glanced back at her brother. "Jonathan's a psychiatrist. And, like Lucy, he is also married." Miraculously.

"Psychiatrist, huh? What branch?" Eddie asked curiously. He'd never seen a psychiatrist as a patient, but he had professionally on one or two occasions. "Do you have your own practice, or are you still tied down to a hospital?" There, of course, was no shame in that; but if one had their own practice, it meant that they had clout.

There was no shame in it, but Jonathan still seemed to prickle a bit. Just a bit. "I've had my own practice for a few years now. And I specialize in clinical and behavioral studies."

"Oh, really? Wow, you're so young." They weren't too far apart in age, really, but psychiatry was no joke. And getting one's own practice wasn't a joke either. "Your spouse must be really proud. I'd be proud, that's… That's pretty incredible."

It was the one area in which Jonathan really did excel; Mina could never fault him for how hard he'd worked. She could, however, fault him for nearly everything else.

"He's very good. We're all so proud of him. Especially his wife." She looked up at Eddie. "Jonathan is tragically heterosexual."

Jonathan rolled his eyes, cheeks tinged pink. "Do you have to always say it like that?"

Mina grinned back at him. "Yes."

"Oh, you're not?" he asked, voice going up a little in question.

"God, no,” she replied. “No, I am very, very bi. Like...disgustingly so. Jonathan knows." She gave a little smirk, to which Jonathan just shook his head.

"Huh," he said, smiling at her, before looking back at Jonathan. "You're all alone in that cishet pool. Eh, one out of three isn't too bad."

"Yes, we were so close to that trifecta. Well, no matter. He didn't have any gay tendencies distracting him while he got his doctorate."

Jonathan nodded a little at that. "I suppose that's true..."

"So you skipped over that whole med student thing where you start thinking you have the thing you're studying?" Eddie asked with a grin. “Lucky you. I had a friend who had a whole gay crisis because he was studying male sexual disorders."

Mina couldn't quite hold back all her laughter. "Oh, god, poor guy. Couldn't just have realizations about his childhood crushes like everyone else... No, I think Jonathan escaped all that and feels fortunate for it."

Jonathan gave a little chuckle, then shifted his weight and looked at Eddie. "Various sexualities notwithstanding... I feel like I do owe you a thank-you, Eddie." He nodded to his sister. "Mina's always had a knack for finding trouble, for better or worse, but I'm grateful she had someone there to help that night."

Eddie pulled Mina ever-so-slightly closer. "I'm just glad that I was able to help."

 _“Eddie is good at helping,”_ Venom purred—proudly, vindictively.

_Thanks, V._

She smiled at him again, that tingle traveling down her spine once more. "Couldn't have asked for a better rescuer. Or a cuter one, let's be honest."

Eddie pinked a little, and smiled at her again, causing them both to chuckle softly. The compliment thing was pretty genuine; they did it all the time. It wasn't something that they really had to put on airs about. Which was fortunate, since it came off as more real to her brother.

And of course it was real. Even if their tone was a bit more mushy or lovey-dovey than they usually sounded, the genuine sentiment was there. And that was what was making her heart flutter and her stomach whirl. It had been a very long time since she'd had someone compliment her with such sincerity. It was one of the things she liked most about him, if she were being honest.

Eddie stuck quite close for the rest of the evening—not that she minded. Though if he kept looking at her and her art like he'd never seen anything better in his life, he was going to have another thing coming. A thing she said she'd be patient about and still intended to be patient about. But, damn, he was making it difficult.

Whether because he truly had nothing else to do or because he was trying to catch Eddie at something, or maybe both, Jonathan stayed at the gallery for the rest of the night. She minded _that_ just a little, if only because he usually only dropped in for an hour or so before making a sudden exit. He was good at "sudden". At least he seemed to be keeping most of his comments to himself like he'd promised.

At the end of the night, just like how he had arrived, Eddie wasn’t the first to leave, nor the last. He timed his exit perfectly.

"Thank you for inviting me tonight,” he said as she walked him out. “It’s been...quite an evening. I don’t think I've ever enjoyed myself more in an art gallery," he admitted with a light laugh.

She smiled up at him. "You're so welcome. I'm really glad you came. And yeah, it, uh..." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "...was definitely one of the more interesting nights we've had here in quite a while."

He chuckled. "I can well imagine." He held her hand, and gave it a squeeze before hugging her. "I'll see you soon. I'll text you. Or call, depending on the mood," he said with a bright smile.

She chuckled, giving him an extra squeeze in the hug before letting him go. "You better. Either one is more than acceptable." Then she looked up at him for a brief moment before she spoke again. "Hey, this might seem like a weird question but humor me for a second?"

He nodded. "Sure. What is it?" He would gladly humor her.

"I just need to reassure myself of something in case my brain decides to have a crisis later," she said with a chuckle. "Before, when you called me amazing..." She could feel her cheeks getting warmer just thinking about it, god. "...did you really mean that? Because if you said it to get under my brother's skin, I fully support that, but..." She gave a half-shrug. "I just...wanted to ask. Just in case."

He reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I meant it. Getting under your brother’s skin was a bonus."

She chuckled again, corners of her eyes crinkling as her cheeks darkened. “Okay. Thank you. For both of those things.” She reached over and took his hand again, giving it a squeeze. “Goodnight, Eddie.”

"Goodnight, Mina," he said, pulling her into another hug. He gave good hugs, and he was so warm, so she never minded more than one when they said goodbye. "Text me when you're home safe?”

“I will. You text me too, okay?”

“I'm assuming I can trust someone here to get you back?" he asked with a coy smile.

She smirked back at him. “Oh, most definitely. Unless Lucy suddenly decides to betray me after all these years. In which case, you’ll be the first one I call for help.”

He nodded. “Good.” He gave her another smile, then headed down the street, hands in his pockets. Overall, he would say the night had gone well.

She watched him walking away for a moment before she went back inside. The last few stragglers were beginning to leave the gallery, and she had a few more hands to shake before the night was officially over. She felt like the night had gone well, too; no meltdowns, no laughing at her work, no one throwing punches at Jonathan... It had gone stellar, by her standards.

Once everyone else had left, she, Lucy, Trevor, and Jonathan went around folding up tables and chairs and stowing them in the storage room at the back. Well, everyone else did most of it; Mina was sort of left as a fifth-wheel, collecting used cups and other trash. She was surprised Jonathan had stuck around this long. Again, he usually ducked out long before this. But then she realized why he'd stuck around when he next opened his mouth, and kicked herself for being surprised.

"So...how many dates have you two been on?"

Mina glanced over her shoulder at him as she dumped a few more cups into a big trash bag. "Officially? Two."

"What do you mean by 'officially'?"

"Well, we didn't really count running into each other at the same diner as a date, and didn't count tonight since this was a work function."

"Oh," he said with a nod. "Where’d you go?"

"Dinner for the first one, movie and then dinner after for the second one."

He glanced up, watching Lucy and Trevor carry another table to the back, then moved closer to her. "Listen, Mina, I'm glad things seem to be going okay right now, but..."

She sighed and put a hand on her hip as she turned to face him. "It always comes to a 'but' with you. But...?"

"I...can't help but wonder if... Well, considering how you met..."

She raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"I mean... You don't think he's just...taking advantage of that to get closer to you?"

Now her brow furrowed. "What?"

"Well, you were vulnerable when you met. Injured woman lying in an alley, and here he comes to your rescue... It makes sense that he would do that."

Mina pressed her fingers to her temples. "Oh my god, Jonathan... Okay, first of all, no, it doesn't make sense, because I really don't think that that occurred to him at all. He was just being kind and helping a stranger who'd been hurt. Second of all, if any guy has tried to take advantage of me recently, I'd put my money on the guy who shoved a knife against my back and tried to assault me. I didn't plan on dating the person who took me to the hospital, and I'm sure he didn't plan on dating me either. It just happened. And I'm pretty happy about it. So why can't you be happy for me?"

Lucy and Trevor had returned at the tail end of her response, and Lucy inched closer, looking between them. "Jonathan, please, can't you just let it go?"

He looked at her now. "The last time I 'let it go'..."

"Was a completely different situation than now," Mina cut in, then gave a soft sigh, deflating a little. "Jonathan, I'm not going to let it happen again. If you're not ready to trust him yet, can't you trust me?"

He looked at her for a long moment, then gave a little nod. "I do trust you, Mina. But I don't trust him."

"Okay, fine. You only just met him. I can't expect miracles in one night."

He kept talking like he hadn't heard her. "Especially with the way he had his hands all over you," he said as he walked over to the door, a little shudder going through him. "You'd think he'd known you for months. I would think he'd be a little more reserved at your 'work function'."

Mina rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, then followed him as he gave a "goodnight" over his shoulder to them. She caught the door before it closed behind him, and leaned out towards him. "Oh, by the way, he spent the night after our second date."

He spun around, eyes wide. "What?"

"Night, Jonathan! Thanks for coming!" And she quickly closed the door and locked it, waving at him with a big grin through the glass.

"Mina! Mina, open the door!"

She mimed that she couldn't hear him, still smiling, and turned on her heel and walked away.

Lucy was trying to hold back her laughter, and Trevor was grinning at her. "Oh, he spent the night, Mina?"

"Oh, nothing happened," Mina said with a wave of her hand. "He slept on my couch, that's all." She grinned. "But what Jonathan doesn't know will bring me so much joy."

Trevor laughed, shaking his head. "You're devious when you want to be."

"Years of practice," she replied proudly, then turned to Lucy. "Sister dear, be a darling and take me home?"

"Oh, of course, sister dear," she replied, still trying not to laugh. She looped her arm around Mina's shoulders. "We'll sneak out the back."

"Perfect. Jonathan will tire himself out eventually."

Eddie and Venom didn't go home straight away. They needed to blow off some collective steam, as they were more than a little irritated about Jonathan—though for entirely different reasons.

"Did not like that guy," Venom hissed as they landed on the nearest rooftop, toes curling over the ledge.

 _"Me either. Such a dick,”_ Eddie replied.

Venom's narrow nostrils flared as they surveyed the distant cityscape. They weren't high enough to get a proper view, which was a pity, but this was just exercise, not sightseeing.

 _"The way he judged Mina was just... I can't..."_ Eddie let out a frustrated growl, and Venom glanced down slightly, thoughtful. _"I just can't believe he could talk about his own sister like that!"_

"I did not like the way he talked about you," Venom replied before leaping off of the roof and moving on. 

_"That I can live with,"_ Eddie replied, frustration distracting him from the ground far below as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop. _"Guy can talk about me all he likes; I've heard worse. But... Shit, he's her brother, and he just..."_ He could hardly put it into words—how someone who supposedly knew her so well could just talk to her like that. _"And he can be as annoyed with me as he likes. I'm gonna prove him wrong._ We're _gonna prove him wrong."_

"Yes, we will," Venom agreed, stopping again and hovering over the edge, observing the people below with keen iridescent leaf-shaped eyes. Tilting their head again, they gave a low hum. "But, Eddie, just because you've had worse doesn't mean that you deserve it."

Eddie felt a little stunned at that, then gave a little chuckle. _"I guess you're right, V."_ Then he sighed. _"I've just...gotten so used to it, that I don't really think about it that way anymore."_ He was so often more concerned with how the people around him were treated that he rarely stopped to think about how _he_ was treated. He had a thick skin, after all. So what did it matter, the way he saw it?

"You don't take care of yourself, Eddie," Venom said, straightening a little when they heard a cry. "But that is okay. That is why we are here." They grinned, all teeth and drool, and darted off towards the cry—both of them eager and hopeful that it was something awful that would provide them with a late-evening snack.

Lucy and Mina were quiet for part of the drive home, Mina busying herself with checking her phone for a text from Eddie. Maybe he'd run some errands or went to get some food before going home. No reason to worry just yet.

Lucy finally broke the silence and said, "I'm sorry."

Mina looked at her, confused. "What're you apologizing for? You're not the one treating me like I'm still a high schooler whose sole standards for dating are if they breathe air near me."

Lucy half-shrugged. "Still. I wish he wouldn't talk to you like that."

"I wish he wouldn't either." She crossed her ankles in front of her. "Entitled bastard. Says he trusts me, and then interrogates me like I don't know any better or like I never learn from my mistakes."

Lucy glanced at her, a small smirk on her face. "Though I have to give Eddie props. He knew exactly what he was doing."

Mina grinned back. "He was perfect; I loved it. And if he's gonna do that every time Jonathan's around, then I don't care how much he snoops." She looked at her sister. "Hey, you know I mean it when I say he's different, right? Like, I’m not just hyping him up for my own sake or anything.”

"Of course I do. And even if I didn't end up liking him, which is doubtful because he seems awesome, it's not like I'm the one dating him. What matters is that _you_ like him."

She gave a softer smile now. "Thanks, sis. ...But you _would_ tell me if you didn't like him for some reason?"

"Oh, of course. I'm not just gonna leave you high and dry if I get a vibe about something."

"Thank god. I trust your vibes more than most anything else."

"As well you should," Lucy said with a big smile.

She gave Mina a kiss on the cheek when she dropped her off, and said that Bev sent her love and was sorry she couldn't be there. That wasn't unusual; Bev was a very busy and in-demand woman. Still, even her "sorry I can't be there" messages felt more sincere than Jonathan's ever did.

Mina dumped her things on the couch and took her dogs downstairs before she picked up her phone to text Eddie. She mulled over the message probably longer than she needed to. After all, she could've just said, "Made it home safely," and let that be that. But...that somehow didn't feel right.

What she sent wound up being a little longer than she originally intended.

_made it back home. Lucy didn't go rogue and murder me on the way back! I know I said it earlier, but I'm really glad you came tonight. this meant a lot to me, and I don't know how you did it, but everything you said and everything you didn't say was...well, perfect. so...thank you. also I've never seen someone get under my brother's skin quite like you. that also was perfect. wait till you hear what I told him when he was leaving. I thought he was gonna have an attack, oh my god. anyway, please let me know when you make it home! and thank you again._

She added a smiley face and hit send, then left it on the island to keep it from distracting her while she got changed and took her makeup off. She considered taking a long soak in a bath; she had been on her feet all night, as Lucy had predicted. Instead, though, she put her pajamas on, got a snack, bundled up in her favorite blanket next to her dogs on the couch, and put on a movie. She kept her phone close by now, but the movie was adequate distraction until she got a reply from Eddie.

Eddie and Venom were out well past eleven o’clock, and perhaps the only reason that Eddie was even still awake was because he didn't have to get up early the next morning.

They climbed the fire escape, crawled through the window, and crossed to the bed. Venom sank back beneath Eddie's skin as the man flopped down on the blankets. He was exhausted—down to his bones exhausted. But...he wasn't angry anymore. That counted for something.

He had enough sense to pull out his phone and smiled blearily at the message that Mina had sent him.

_You’re so welcome. And can't wait. Tell me over lunch, Wednesday? I made it home by the way. Sorry it took so long, had some errands that needed doing._

He hit send, and almost immediately passed out. He didn't even stir when Venom stripped him out of the party clothes and got him bundled up in the blankets.

It looked like Eddie wasn’t going to be consciously dreaming that night. As such, Venom didn’t feel the need to monitor him, and decided to get some rest of their own. They weren’t sure what to make of everything that had happened, but tomorrow was a new day. Maybe things would make sense then.

Mina was still awake when the text came through, though just barely. She smiled as she replied, _no worries! glad you're home safe. lunch Wednesday sounds perfect! can't wait. sleep well, Eddie._

Her movie ended shortly after, and she peeled herself up off the couch to go collapse into her own bed. She fell asleep quickly, a warm feeling settled in her chest and lulling her off to sleep.

It _had_ been a long night, but...a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a LOOOOONG chapter, as promised! we hope you all enjoy! after this, we're going back to the weekly posting; I spoiled y'all for the holidays over the last couple weeks.
> 
> thank you again, everyone, for all the kudos, the wonderful comments...! you all are so lovely and supportive and sweet. thank you so so much--from both of us!


	9. Routines

Venom had been quietly hoping that the new day would be one that didn't involve interactions with Mina, but they could hardly control Eddie's interest in the woman.

...They  _ could _ hide his phone. That was always an option if Venom got really frustrated with all this. If nothing else, at least it seemed there would be several days until they saw each other in person again. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

Of course, Eddie didn't forget about Venom's apparent jealousy, and spent a considerable amount of time over the next few days trying to find ways to reassure the symbiote that nothing was going to change between them. 

Their day-to-day routine hadn't really changed all that much, apart from texts or calls to and from Mina. Around work, they still watched TV together, ate together, ran around the city several nights a week... He was a little more pointed about it lately, he supposed. He really did enjoy the time he and Venom spent together with just the two of them, and he really was doing his best... He hoped his attempts at least counted for something. Especially with he and Mina's next date coming up a little sooner than the last two had.

It wasn't like Venom didn't appreciate the attention—they did—, and they tried to understand, but...really, they just didn't. 

What was so fascinating about this scrawny human woman? What could she give Eddie that Venom couldn't? They could literally give Eddie everything and anything! And strove to do so! What did he need  _ her _ for?

Explaining human-to-human attraction would've been a whole different undertaking unto itself. It went beyond mere companionship—which on its own, Eddie knew he couldn't live without. Even if he sometimes struggled to make connections that lasted, he desperately needed those connections for however long they lasted. Hell, that was probably one reason why he and Annie were still on as good of terms as they were.

And, while he enjoyed—and even sometimes reveled in—Venom's presence and partnership, it just...wasn't the same. It could probably be chalked up to having been a singular being up until a few months earlier, but all he knew was that he didn't want to forgo the kind of connections he was more used to. Maybe, on the most basic of levels, he didn't need such a thing anymore, but...he still wanted it. He wanted to build on the connection he and Mina had started to form. He liked her, and liked spending time with her. He wanted her around, even if Venom couldn't understand why he craved such a connection from someone outside of their shared "we".

Some things about humankind weren't quantifiable, weren't always able to be explained logically. And some part of him knew that that was frustrating for a being like Venom, but it didn't make it any less true.

_ "Bored, Eddie." _

They were sitting at a library computer, Eddie just gazing blankly at the screen. He was doing work-related research, which was always a long, tedious process. 

_ You and me both, _ he thought back, rubbing at his eyes and giving a quiet sigh.  _ But you know the deal. I get through my work with no disruptions, and we get McDonald's. _ He clicked to the next article.

Venom was quiet for a moment, then he rumbled,  _ “Chicken nuggets.” _ They liked going out to eat, just the two of them. Even when they went back home, it was...nice. Venom didn’t say so, but it was like when Eddie would eat with the human woman. It felt different; special. Separate. And just for them. 

Eddie smiled.  _ Chicken nuggets. 40 pieces, and all the bbq sauce we want. _

Food was the easiest way to bribe Venom. Not that Eddie really felt like it was bribing, since he liked food too, but at least there was  _ something _ simple about the alien. At any rate, it was more like appeasing than bribing. True, it had initially been about keeping the symbiote from eating his insides, but, now that they’d gotten into a sort of routine, he found himself enjoying such things more often than not. It kept him alive and functioning, but it made Venom happy too. He liked that. 

Once he finished his work, he grabbed up his bag and headed out. They hit up not only McDonald's for 40 mcnuggets, 4 large french fries, and 5 burgers, but also Burger King for 3 chicken burgers and 8 orders of chicken-fries. 

Venom was ecstatic, curling and uncurling behind Eddie’s ribcage. When they got back to the apartment, Venom emerged from his shoulder, booping their head against Eddie’s cheek and temple.  _ “Food!” _

"Yeah buddy, good food," he said with a grin, a little surprised by the gentle boop—but pleasantly so. "Maybe not good  _ for  _ us, but, damn it sure taste good." 

_ “‘Good for the spirit’? I believe? Makes you feel good. Makes us feel good." _

He chuckled at the phrase. “True, and we can always use more of that.”

The days leading up to his lunch date with Mina were...surprisingly good. Venom still grumbled about it from time to time, but they were balancing things pretty well. Eddie was beginning to think that just  _ maybe  _ they were finding their groove. Finally.

If that was the case, he was much more than grateful for it. If the two of them could manage to find some semblance of a shared "normal", then maybe things could go a little more smoothly from then on. At least, that's what he was hoping for.

Mina had found herself falling into a new groove of her own as the fourth week with her cast started. Naturally, a routine would take hold around two weeks before she'd get the damn thing off. But at least she was finding ways to distract herself from trying to experiment with ways to get the cast off herself. Eddie asking her out on dates was one of those ways of distracting herself, and probably the one she was most happy to take advantage of.

She was trying not to get too excited about a daytime date for the two of them; good progress, one might call it. And she couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she recalled the first time he'd asked her out—how nervous he'd sounded on the phone, and how awkward some of their conversations had been on that first dinner date. Flash-forward a couple weeks, and he was pretty casually texting her at nearly-midnight to ask her out on lunch dates. All good progress, as far as she was concerned.

"Alright, so we're hitting up a diner, which means milkshakes, pies, cakes, that type of thing. Probably 20 different kinds of burgers... I vote we eat whichever has bacon," Eddie said as he went around his apartment on Wednesday getting ready to meet Mina for lunch. 

_ "Bacon is delicious." _

He grabbed his keys and twirled them around his fingers. “On that, we can agree, buddy.”

Mina was also mulling over what kind of burger she was feeling that day—breakfast? classic? cheese? who knew!—as she left to meet Eddie. She tugged her jacket a little tighter around her with her good arm as she crossed the sidewalk and got into the cab waiting along the curb.

Fall was well underway, and there was that bit of a nip in the air that served as a warning for the impending winter chill. Leaves blew across the crosswalks and stuck to car hoods and roofs. Soon, there would be frost pinning the dead leaves in place, and the fog would start rolling in thicker in the mornings. Thank god she'd long ago left her regular early mornings behind; trying to commute in this city was hard enough without the thick fog coming in off the bay.

As San Francisco was part of the bay, most people who didn’t live there forgot or didn't think that it ever got cold. But what those people never took into account was the fact that they were literally on the water. That winter wind blowing in off the ocean? Could chill you right down to the bone.

Of course, Eddie didn't much notice the temperature changes until they were extreme. Even when Venom wasn't encasing him, he ran warm. Mina only noticed now mostly because of her cast making jackets a bit more difficult to wear. Even small gusts stung a little more when she basically had one arm hanging out.

At least the diner was warm inside, and had the inviting smell of hot coffee and sizzling food to coax her further inside. 

Eddie spotted her sitting at a booth when he arrived, and smiled as he moved to join her. He pulled off his jacket before sliding into the booth, sitting opposite her. "Hey, been waiting long?" 

She smiled brightly. “Hi. No, not long at all.” The waitress had only brought by the glasses of water about a minute before. The two of them seemed to have pretty good timing when it came to meeting each other, luckily. “How’s your week been going?”

“Really well." he said with a bright smile of his own, pulling his water glass towards him and taking a drink from it. "Been working, which is always nice even when boring." 

“I know I’ll probably regret saying so now,” she said, lazily stirring her water with her straw, “but I can’t wait to get this thing off and back to work. I miss it.” She chuckled. “And it’ll give me a more legit reason to ignore the people I don’t want to talk to—namely, Jonathan. I can only use the, ‘Sorry, I was sleeping’ excuse so many times before he starts to wonder if I’m slipping into a coma every day.”

He laughed, ducking his face. "Yeah, been there. But, hey, you're almost done. And it won't take too long to build up your strength."

“Yeah, I’m already expecting to get one of those, uh...” She made a squeezing motion with her hand. “...stress ball things. Which my dogs will surely mistake for a new toy within the first hour.”

"Oh probably," he chuckled, and glanced up when the waitress came around to their table.

"Hi, can I get you anything besides water?"

"A Coke would be great." Eddie said. It was cold out, but Coke and burgers just sounded amazing.

"One coke, and for you?" 

“Same for me, thanks,” Mina replied with a smile. He had the right idea; despite the weather, it  _ did  _ sound good.

The waitress assured she’d be back to take their order in a few minutes, and they turned their attention a bit more fully to their menus.

“I haven’t been to this place is ages,” she said, flipping pages, “and I think they got more burger options since then.”

"Only in America, am I right?" He let out a quiet puff of laughter, opening his own menu and looking over the burger section. 

The diner had roughly twenty different kinds of burgers—five of which had bacon on them. Venom did a little turn in his chest at the realization, and murmured something about ordering all five different kinds.

Of course, that wasn't even getting into the choice to just put your own burger together out of half a page of options. Miraculously, they managed to make their choices before the waitress came back around with their sodas.

Venom, of course, kept changing his mind; all the choices were a bit too exciting. But he seemed happy with Eddie's final choices, and settled down in his stomach to wait for the food.

Eddie ordered a western/Texas burger, which was a pound and a half of beef with smoked applewood bacon, cheese, fried onions, barbecue sauce, and pickles. He also ordered a double cheese burger to go. 

Mina went with a breakfast burger after all—with double bacon and a fried egg. It was very close to what she used to eat for her regular hangover cures, so she'd always had a soft spot for it. Besides which, breakfast food was always the right choice. Always.

They also got French fries, and a serving of mozzarella sticks. Eddie also ordered a chocolate milkshake, and she piped up to get the same once again. She couldn’t fault him for his good taste in food. Besides, it likely wasn't to the point for the two of them yet that they were ready to share one (even if she'd stolen some of his when they'd run into each other that first time at Mac's). That aside, she kinda still wanted one all to herself.

When the waitress left, Mina shifted a little in her seat before she spoke again. "Hey, I know I've said it, like...twice already, but I wanted to say it again in person: I really appreciated you coming to the gallery showing last week. It meant a lot to me, and your opinion of it all means a lot to me too, so..." She gave a little shrug. "Thanks."

He smiled. "Of course, not a problem. I really liked being there and getting to see all your work. And especially being there for you.”

She smiled at that, looking down into her drink to try to hide just how much she was smiling.

He watched her for a moment, then said, “I, uh, I gotta ask. After I left...what did your brother say?"

She rolled her eyes as she swallowed a drink of her soda. "Oh, well, he started by asking me if I thought you were taking advantage of how we met to get closer to me. Y'know, because I was so vulnerable and injured," she said sarcastically.

He chuckled, a bewildered look on his face. "I'm pretty sure, even considering what you were going through, you still could have kicked my ass."

She laughed with him. "Right? He apparently missed the part of the story where I slapped you so hard you fell over." She put her chin in her hand. "Then, of course, he couldn't leave without making a comment that went something like, 'Can't believe he had his hands all over you like that all night'," she said, imitating Jonathan's tone of voice near-perfectly, and rolling her eyes again. "Not that I minded you holding me, of course—quite the opposite—, but the guy talks like I'm sixteen and getting felt-up at the prom."

"Ha-HA!” he laughed. “Oh my God, that's so messed up. Why is he such a tool? I mean, you're a big girl. You can take care of yourself, for the most part. It's not like you're on the streets starving."

"I know, right?! You'd think I was his kid sister, and not, like, an adult who’s a few years younger than him! It kills me!" She took a big gulp of soda. "As for why he is the way he is, that's for a different discussion, but, oh man... I was so fed-up with him by that point, even though he was on his way out the door, with him talking about how you shouldn't be so familiar with me after only a couple dates..." She started chuckling at herself. "So I leaned out the door after him, and told him you spent the night after our movie date. No other explanation, and locked him out of the gallery."

Eddie snorted then gasped and laughed. He could just imagine the look on her twit brother’s face. "Oh, I bet that riled him!"

Mina couldn't help but let herself laugh with him again. "He tried to break down the door to get back inside!" she replied, gasping for breath.

He laughed again, loud and high till he was practically wheezing. "Hh— Oh my god. Priceless. I bet that felt good." 

It was the first time he'd laughed this hard, and she couldn't quite stop herself from laughing at his laugh. It was...ridiculously endearing that his laugh went up that high from his regular speaking voice.

"God, it did. Every once in a while, he leaves himself wide fucking open for me to get a good shot at him after he's been endlessly needling me, and... Shit, it feels so, so good."

"Oh, that's great," he replied with a big grin.

_ “Bastard deserved it.” _

"You’d think he'd learn." 

She grinned back. "You'd think, after having me as a sister for most of his life." She leaned back, giving a content little sigh. "He'll learn. Someday. Maybe. For a doctor, he's not very smart sometimes."

The topic of conversation very gradually moved on from dissing her brother to other topics, like movies, music, and his motorcycle and when she would get to ride it. 

Their food came, and, though they dug in, their conversation didn't stagger in the slightest.

"On the subject of a motorcycle ride," she said, pointing at him with a fry, "my time with the cast is up in a couple more weeks, and Dr. Lewis— Well, Dan, I guess. Anyway, his receptionist called, and I have an appointment to get it taken off, and I was wondering if you'd go with me?" She smiled. "Kinda following through on what you started, so to speak. But, uh, it'd be nice to have a hand to hold when they cut it off."

He nodded, popping a fry dipped in milkshake into his mouth. "Yeah, of course, sure." 

"Thanks," she replied, doing the same. "I'll text you the time and stuff later." She considered mentioning that she'd run into Dan and his fiancée the week before, then decided against it. She wasn't exactly sure why, but the thought of just blurting out,  _ "By the way, I ran into your friends while I was out with my sister,” _ seemed weird. Who knew if he even wanted her to meet his friends yet? She wasn't sure he'd even thought about that, but then you never knew...

"Yeah, great. I'll definitely be there," he said with a nod. He would make it work.

Venom huffed. More plans. Didn’t humans ever stop?

Eddie ignored the huff as their conversation picked back up again, both of them only halfway through the food on their plates. They talked about going to the movies again soon (why not), and other restaurants in the area they'd been wanting to try or that one of them had been to but the other hadn't. It felt nice to be making plans, even if they weren't completely formed yet. It felt normal.

Eddie would have to explain to Venom how plans helped humans get through their days. Even simple plans, like going on movie dates. Or promising to hold their hand while they got their cast taken off. Simple things.

Mina could feel the beginnings of the urge to just...want to hang out with him all the time. She liked spending time with him, liked that they both loved going to the movies and didn't let a meal stop a good conversation—or a conversation stop a good meal, for that matter. She liked it. She liked him.

They stayed in the booth long after their food had been finished, still working at the last dregs of their respective milkshakes. God, it hadn't even been a week since they'd seen each other, but it seemed like they were both having trouble shutting up.

Eddie had never talked so much in his life. Between Venom and Mina, he easily outdid his word count on any of his video reports. And he wasn't exactly mad about it.

Finally, finally, they figured it was time to free up the table and let the staff have a reprieve from their non-stop talking. But that meant it was time for their newly-forming tradition: continually offering back and forth to pay for the food until they came to a compromise. Eddie ultimately won out this time, but only because he promised Mina could pay for their next movie date. She admitted defeat—for the time being.

_ “WHY did you agree to a date?! _ ”

Eddie ignored Venom’s outraged hissing as he carried the check and the money up to the register. It was...not cheap. But Eddie didn't feel too bad about it because he was working right now, and would be getting paid soon.

Mina waited far enough away to act like she hadn't seen the total on the check, but close enough to still be able to take his hand when he was finished so she could lead them out of the restaurant. Maybe she'd stash some money in his pocket or something before they parted ways for the day.

She was a little surprised he hadn't gotten bored of her yammering on like she had, but then he'd been doing his share of yammering too. The result of both being people who apparently liked to talk, and then being in each other's vicinity.

She swung their hands a little as they left the restaurant. "So, you sick of me yet?" she asked with a grin.

"Oh absolutely. That's why I'm still here," he joked with a grin of his own, looking sidelong at her. 

"Ah, of course, I should know this by now. Running for the hills means you  _ like _ me—that's how that goes."

"Yeah, see, you've been getting all your signals crossed all this time." They paused near his bike, and he glanced between her and it before he spoke again. "Hey, um...you think you might want to go for a ride once that’s off?” He nodded to her cast. “Maybe I could drive you home. From the hospital, I mean."

She smiled wide. “I'd love that.” Excellent incentive to actually get her through the hospital doors. ...Maybe that was a little dramatic, but she never underestimated herself with these things. "Perfect way to celebrate finally being free of this thing."

A noticeable but slight wave of relief washed over his expression, just briefly visible before he beamed at her. "Great. I'll be there with bells on." 

“Great,” she replied. “I’ll text you the info, and we’ll figure out when we’re gonna go see that movie.” She grinned, then reached up to hug him. “Because you’re not getting out of me buying you a movie ticket or you picking a movie.”

"What if there's nothing good playing?" he asked, hugging her back. 

“Hmm, good point... Well, then I guess we’ll have to pick something out of my extensive collection again. And you will have to let me order in food again.” 

He gave a long, drawn-out hum, as if he had to think about it. "That doesn't sound too bad." He smiled, almost to himself. "We'll just have to see what happens,” he said as they leaned apart, smile still on his face.

She smiled back at him. "We will, indeed." She gave his hand one last squeeze before taking a step back. "Let me know when you get home safe, okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you too, alright?" He walked around his bike, shifting it off its stand and swinging a leg over it. "I don't want to hear you've ended back in the hospital."

"I make no promises," she said with a wider grin. She was joking, but she also wasn't discounting the chance that, while they were dating, there would be a time when she made that joke, and then someone would be calling him telling him she was in the hospital again. For as much as she hated the hospital, she wound up there a lot more often than she ever thought she would.

She bit down on her tongue to keep from biting her lip once again at the sight of him on his motorcycle. Soon. Very soon.

"Alright, well, if I don't hear from you..." He didn't have to say anything else. If he didn't hear from her, then he would check up on her. Simple as that.

“Right,” she said, and gave a little wave as she turned away. “See you, Eddie!” 

Eddie pulled out and headed along the road, shooting a wave over his shoulder before going on his way.

_ Okay, you going to sulk more now? _

_ “Not sulking.” _

_ Please, it’s what you do. You're very good at it. But, c'mon, that wasn't too bad, was it? _

A beat of silence as they went over a hill, Eddie's stomach rising as they descended. 

_ “Not too bad.” _

Eddie chuckled as they sped down the hill. Maybe there was hope for this whole thing yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! hope your 2019 is going well so far~
> 
> also just a quick note about the update schedule: it will likely be slowing down some in the coming weeks. both of us have been very sick and are trying to keep up with our jobs as best we can during recovery, so writing is going slowly at this time. chapters will just be posted less often to give us a bit of a cushion to get new ones finished without stressing ourselves out over an upload schedule. I'm over on twitter @ms_starling, if you want more regular updates on writing/editing progress and such. thank you for your understanding and for all the support this story has garnered so far! we're so grateful. ^u^


	10. Dream a Little Dream of Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [mildly nsfw content ahead!]

Eddie and Mina texted back and forth that evening and into the next day. They ultimately decided that none of the movies playing looked like they were worth going all the way to the theater for, so it looked like another night in at Mina's for them. Not that either of them entirely minded.

She reminded him that this didn't mean he was getting out of picking a movie—she'd picked two last time, so it was only fair—, and that this _did_ mean she was ordering in dinner, and he wasn't getting around letting her do that either. All with a teasing tone, of course.

They set the date for three days later. That gave Eddie time to finish his current work project and spend some time with Venom. He wasn't sure when he had started thinking of having to spend time with Venom, since they lived in the same body... The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he intended to fix it.

He _would_ find a good balance that worked all way around; he was determined. Venom was not a lesser part of his life. Hell, Venom _was_ his life. Venom was as much a part of him as he was of Venom. Surely, there was a way to give equal consideration to both the Venom-related parts of his life and the non-Venom ones. God, could he even say any part of his life wasn’t Venom-related anymore?

He tried not to obsess over the issue too much. No reason to pull his hair and stress; it would only give him digestive trouble, anyway. Or would it give him heartburn? Either way, Eddie just spent his nights out in the street with Venom, having fun together, or at home watching Netflix.

Well, at least, most of his nights were dedicated to spending time with Venom. His waking hours, he could better control. His sleeping hours were another story, much to Venom's chagrin.

The night before he was going to see Mina again, the eagerness he'd felt throughout the day carried over into his dreams. It looked like it was going to be another night of Venom enduring imaginings of an intimate nature from Eddie's subconscious about the woman.

It started much the same as many of the previous ones had, though the pair were in Eddie's apartment this time instead of Mina's. They were clinging to each other, exchanging heated kisses as they stumbled through the apartment. Their jackets dropped to the floor as they neared the couch, which Mina pushed Eddie down onto—why was she always pushing him in these dreams?—before climbing onto him, straddling his lap and kissing him again.

The kisses grew longer, harder, as Eddie's pulse continued to quicken. She gripped at the back of his neck, other hand wound in his hair. His hands veritably groped at her lower back, not yet daring to shift down to her ass, and he pulled her closer, kissing back just as hard as she was and drawing little moans from her mouth into his.

What did Eddie see in all this—this intimacy with her? What did he gain from it, besides physical excitement? _They_ were more intimate, more connected, than any human could ever hope to hold a candle to. So why even entertain fantasies of this nonsense?

The dream version of Mina leaned back to take her shirt off, and Venom knew it was time for them to check out. Or, at least, work harder to ignore the goings-on. But then a thought occurred to them. If they could influence Eddie's nightmares into dreams...

Mina was kissing him again, grinding down on him to create a pleasant but frustrating friction between them. Eddie's hands were splayed across her back, tracing the long tattoo down her spine with his fingers.

And then...it felt like something was shifting on her skin as her back arched and curved. No, not just shifting—slithering. He pried his eyes open, and saw something dark curling up over her shoulder. For a moment, it looked like the cobra from her tattoo. Then a familiar pair of iridescent eyes looked at him.

He made a confused sound, and Mina leaned back. "What?"

He looked between her and Venom, then the logical part of his brain whispered that Venom was just fucking with him. And, therefore, nothing to be concerned about. "Nothing."

"Okay," she replied, and pressed another kiss to his lips before ducking her head and kissing down along his neck. She sucked at the spot over his pulse, and he let out a strained little groan.

He let out a more surprised noise when he felt teeth in his neck—sharp teeth, teeth that couldn't possibly be hers.

 _"What's the matter, Eddie?"_ It was her voice...but also not. He watched as she raised her head. Half of her face was covered by Venom, one blue eye and one white eye peering at him as they smiled that big toothy grin. _"Did we scare you?"_

He just stared at them as they trailed a clawed hand across his neck and down his chest. Their other hand held his face—tenderly, almost lovingly. Venom was stretching down her torso, covering her chest and stomach.

He let out a stuttered sound as they settled back down across his lap. Their grin had faded, as much as it ever did, and they searched his face intently, Mina's visible eye half-lidded. They leaned in again, face close to his—testing him, gauging him—before kissing him. It was an earnest mimicry of the earlier imagined kisses, but more gentle now. It caught him off-guard, and he found his eyes closing as he kissed them back.

He could feel Venom moving across him, between them, that familiar warm sensation going right through his clothes to his skin. It felt different this time, though—more heated, and earnest, like the kiss.

The weight on his lap had changed as well as the heat seeped through his clothes. She... _They_... Venom was no longer sitting on his lap, but rather stretched up from his lap. A heavy weight holding him down, simultaneously from within and without, in that annoying way only Venom could.

Besides his upper torso, he had gone completely still, but he found that he didn't care. It was difficult to care when that familiar warmth,—like slipping into a hot bath—, was resting along his hips and lower stomach, and slowly reaching its way up.

Wherever Venom touched—and their touch was surprisingly tender—the warmth spread, and Eddie began to feel it going to his head. He wasn't sure when they ended up on the bed, or when Venom had fully entwined him, or when that incredibly long tongue had slipped past his lips, but...

Nothing in him wanted to stop it. A conscious thought wondered if that was strange, but it was veritably drowned out by the addictive heat overwhelming him.

It might have continued to do so, had he not suddenly woken to sunlight streaming in through the windows. Sweat drenched his brow, which was furrowed in confusion more than anything else.

"What the fuck," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

Waking up spent, or well on his way there, was by no means entirely uncommon, especially now that he was healthy. Though it didn't happen as often as it might have once upon a time, due in part to the fact that Venom didn't consider it a...necessary function. Eddie would agree, if he were honest about it.

However, this morning as he shifted against the sheets, it was to find himself not just slicked with sweat.

"Fff—" He let out a puff of air, face still hot, hair sticking up with sleep and sweat. He blinked his bleary eyes and shifted to the edge of the bed.

Once he was standing, he shuffled awkwardly to the bathroom, feeling an odd sense of deja-vu. How many times had he done this same shuffle when he was thirteen? Daily? Still as awkward now as it had been then.

Venom was surprisingly quiet. It made him wonder for a moment if Venom really _had_ had an influence over that dream. Oh, of course they had. That couldn't have wholly come from Eddie's subconscious alone. ...Right?

In all honesty, most of the dream was a haze, but he knew enough of what went on to know that it wasn't an innocent dream. Or as innocent as any of the dreams he shared with the symbiote were. After all, one couldn't really call cannibalism “innocent”.

He stripped out of his boxers and tossed them in the laundry basket before turning on the shower. He climbed in right away, flinching at the cold spray and spinning quickly as it heated up to warm his goose-pimply skin.

As he quickly rinsed off, scrubbing at the smeared slick fluid against his skin, a thought began to nag at him. What if that really _had_ just been _his_ dream? Oh, god.

If it had been...Venom would have seen the whole thing, right? There probably wasn't any chance the symbiote had been resting during it. Eddie didn't have that kind of luck.

He grabbed the soap and lathered it up between his palms, gazing at the wall, losing himself to his thoughts.

Was that why Venom was quiet? Oh god, he would have to try and explain. Explain that...that it wasn't exactly something he could control. That sometimes it was just...entirely out of a guy’s control! It didn't mean anything.

He really didn't want the symbiote thinking lesser of him over this—not when they were starting to make things work.

It wasn't until he was sitting on the edge of the bed in a clean pair of sweatpants, towel hung around his neck, and that his stomach started growling—it seemed nothing could ever get in the way of that anymore—that he tried talking to the symbiote.

"Look, I... I know you saw...all that," he said. "And it didn't mean anything. I know... I know you probably don't understand." He rubbed a hand through his damp hair. "Hell, I don't even understand it. Human's are weird, okay? I mean, I don't know why I dream about the news anchor lady from Channel 2, but... Well, you've seen her show up more than once."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Could you at least talk to me?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and then he felt Venom poking up from his shoulder. They stayed mostly hidden, though, just peeking out. They gave a curious little rumble, then said, _"Humans are indeed strange."_ His big eyes shifted to look at Eddie. _"Does it...always mean nothing?"_

Eddie's ears pinked as he felt heat licking at them, and it took a considerable amount of effort for him not to rub at his neck. "Well, no. Sometimes it means something. I mean, I guess, on some level, it always means something. Like attraction—physical attraction. Or just that it's been a long time since you've, well...." He cleared his throat. "Sometimes it means something really special. Like you really like something."

Venom hummed again, emerging a little farther. _"And...this is why the Mina woman shows up so often? In any capacity?"_ they asked, almost as if it were a way to side-step the central issue. At least, for the moment.

Eddie blinked. "Well, um...I guess, yeah,” he said awkwardly. "I like her. And more than the Channel 2 lady."

Venom mulled over this for a moment. _"I know you do,"_ they rumbled. Then they ventured, _"And so she was there... But I was there too._ We _were there."_

"Y-Yeah, we were." He chewed the inside of his cheek. "I don't know what it means, but...it doesn't _have_ to mean anything. I know you're... Well, you're not like us—like humans, I mean.”

Did Venom's kind even—? Well, they didn't do the sex thing, did they? No, he was pretty sure Venom had mentioned that at some point. So the entire concept of how humans did it, and the reasons they did it, were entirely foreign to the alien. More-so than perhaps the practices of other, different aliens might have been.

 _"True."_ Venom was quiet again for a few moments, then stretched up to settle on Eddie's shoulder, against his neck. _“But it was...interesting."_

Eddie glanced at the symbiote. Venom, even like this, was huge—all teeth and all eyes. It was...oddly thrilling. Always was. Eddie had just sort of gotten used to the feeling of looking at and being close to such a creature.

"Y-Yeah? I... I guess it was."

Venom seemed at least a bit more at-ease after that, giving some of their usual prodding and insisting about breakfast and the sugar in their coffee. It was maybe more than Eddie had expected of them, but all he could feel right then was relief. Especially since he had his date that night with Mina to worry about.

Oh, god. Venom aside, he'd had that dream about her, and now he was going to see her in a few hours. Sure, it wasn't the first dream he'd had about her, but...it made him feel a little weird all the same.

Eddie had always felt a little awkward about having sex dreams about people he interacted with in real life. Anne, of course, had been a different story; they had been together for years. Sure, he still had the occasional dream now, but he felt less guilty about it and more just sad. Sad that his brain couldn't let go yet.

But...maybe this most recent dream about Mina meant that maybe he was moving on.

It was a hopeful thought, and it eased his anxiety just a bit. He knew it was high time he let himself move on, even if those memories and the subsequent dreams were still tinged with sadness. She'd moved on; he needed to let himself do the same. Especially when an opportunity with someone he liked was right there in front of him.

They ate their breakfast, perhaps even more than they needed, because Eddie felt a little heavy for most of the afternoon. He got dressed, and he and Venom finished up one of their recent shows. While Venom watched, they ate; and, while they did that, Eddie worked on some of his writing on the sofa.

It was as quiet and peaceful as their day-to-day life ever got, and he'd grown accustomed to it. Again, it was more than he'd expected after the kind of night they'd had.

Mina was spending her day simultaneously trying to distract herself from her frustration at her cast and inability to work—which seemed to be getting worse the closer her appointment got—and distracting herself from being overly excited about Eddie coming over in the evening. Neither was really going very well, even after spending part of the morning and early afternoon at the dog park. But the day was going by at a quicker pace between the two opposed emotions, and she wasn't exactly upset about that.

_“Why are we going to her house again? Why is the movie theater not enough? It’s certainly bad enough,”_ Venom grumbled while they perused the snack aisle at their usual market. Eddie knew that Mina was going to spring for food, but he could at least bring snacks. _“Get the gummy bears.”_

Eddie snagged the 2-for-a-dollar bags and chucked them in the basket hooked on his elbow. “Because nothing good is playing, and there’s no point wasting money at the movies if there isn’t anything worth seeing.” He picked up a box of Milk Duds off the shelf and wiggled it slightly. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a similar experience.”

Venom perked at the sound of Milk Duds rolling around in the box, but it was only a brief distraction. The symbiote demanded two boxes, then gave a little grumble—something about how pointless all this seemed. They might’ve been mumbling to themselves if Eddie wasn’t able to hear everything they said inside his own skull. Still, it was sort of endearing that Venom tried. It was almost...human. Or humanlike.

They got two share-size boxes of the Milk Duds, the two bags of gummies, as well as several chocolate bars, and other assorted candies. At this point, Eddie was accepting the fact that he would likely get a myriad of cavities given how many sweets he ingested on a regular—daily—basis.

 _“We will take care of those,”_ Venom mumbled in response to the thought.

Eddie grinned and made his way up to the register. “Hey Mrs. C,” he greeted.

The middle-aged Chinese woman folded her paper and set it aside as they approached. “Hello, Eddie. Hello, bug inside Eddie.”

Venom poked up from Eddie’s shoulder—just barely. _“We are not a bug.”_ Their words lacked, well, venom. If they were honest, they rather liked the woman, and was almost flattered that she acknowledged them with calm as opposed to shock and horror. And, at the very least, she wasn’t calling Venom a parasite.

“You certainly look like one,” she replied, though, like Venom, there was nothing harsh about her tone. She said it as if it were a statement of fact. “I would ask if all this is for just you two, but I think I know better by now.”

Eddie blushed a little but smiled. “Nah, this time, it’s for us and a friend,” he said as she rang up their items.

“A friend, eh? Is this a special friend?”

“Maybe.” Eddie set the money on the counter and picked up the bag.

“Then why don’t you bring her here? Because you know I’ll tell her to stay away from you—that you’re no good, huh?”

“Have a good one, Mrs. C,” Eddie said waving over his shoulder as he left, still grinning.

Venom gave another grumble, despite Eddie’s good mood or perhaps because of it, and didn’t seem quite ready to stop even when they were parked outside Mina’s apartment.

“Would you stop whining?” Eddie mumbled. “There’s food up there.”

Yes, but _she_ was also up there. The promise of food, and lots of it—the human’s one redeeming characteristic thus far seemed to be that she didn’t mind buying large amounts of food for them—, was the only thing keeping Venom from yanking Eddie back onto their bike and driving them home. But just barely.

Eddie held up the bag of snacks he had brought once he had been let up and then knocked on Mina’s apartment door. He grinned, flashing his teeth in a rare bright smile, when she opened the door. “Brought snacks.”

She grinned back, nose scrunching a little as she shook her head. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” she asked, then stepped aside to let him in. “Also, I hope pizza’s okay again. I didn’t feel like walking farther than around the corner.”

“Sounds great, also smells great,” Eddie said as he crossed the threshold and set the bag of snacks he had brought with him on the counter near the pizza boxes.

“Good,” she said, going for the fridge. “Your choice of beverage tonight, sir?” Lucy had brought more soda the day before with her weekly grocery run. Because apparently she still thought Mina incapable of getting her own groceries. ...It was sort of a fair assumption, actually.

“Water, please,” he said as he slipped off his shoes and set them off to the side near her own. Her shoes sometimes sort of trailed, but he gently toed them all back against the wall while she was busying herself in the kitchen before turning and joining her.

She passed him a bottle of water from the fridge before opening her own and taking a drink. She found herself just still looking at him for a long moment before she remembered to ask, “Did you do any thinking about what kind of movie you wanna watch?”

“I did, actually,” he said. He cracked the water bottle open and took a quick swig before continuing. “I looked through both Hulu and Netflix last night, and decided on either _Galaxy Quest_ , or _Quigley Down Under_.” He might have had a heart-on for Alan Rickman, if he were to be quite honest with himself. Which, of course, he wasn’t. “I am also entirely up for suggestions or genres or whatever, if you have thoughts.”

“Oh, god, I love _Galaxy Quest_. I keep forgetting it’s on there. Yes, let’s watch that.” She smiled and gave a little shrug. “Hell, depending on how long you wanna stick around tonight, we could watch both.” She had no presumptions about him sleeping over again, but she was the kind of person to just put three or more movies on in a row with hardly a break in-between. Just watching one? That was amateur hour stuff.

He smiled. “I don’t have a curfew,” he said as he followed her to the sofa, carrying one of the pizza boxes with him. He set it down on the coffee table while she got Netflix up and going. “And I am down for multiple movies.”

"A man after my own heart," she said, typing the movie title into the search bar and hitting play. He'd divvied out pizza slices onto plates, and held one out to her when she set the remote aside. She gave a quiet thanks and settled back against the couch next to him, only then realizing that they'd basically skipped over the "hi, how are you"s and gone straight for the food and the movie. She tried to hide a little smile to herself at the realization; it wasn't a big deal, but...for some reason, it just made her happy.

They hadn’t had too many “official” dates, but they had been seeing quite a lot of one another, and it felt...casual but familiar. It was nice. It was pleasant. It didn’t feel like a “hi, hello, how are you” was necessary right off. A “hello” was obviously implied. The “how are you” would come later, when they inevitably talked properly. It seemed to be something like a routine forming for them, especially with the casual getting-to-know-each-other-better conversations.

Though they had toed the line of in-depth conversation several times. Toed the line, but hadn't yet jumped in—that was a good summation of where they were. And it wasn't a bad summation or a bad place to be; it just was. Their respective reservations were all but unbeknownst to each other, but often at the forefront of their individual thoughts when they were around each other. Not constantly, of course, but whenever they would realize how casual they were already acting towards each other, or when they'd find themselves watching the other for longer than they'd realized. It was as if they were sitting at the same edge of the deep end of the same pool, one foot each dipping into the water, and watching to see who was going to dip their second foot in first. Or, perhaps, who was going to take the other's hand and jump in, taking the other with them.

The casual and familiar state of being brought her back to her musings before their second date—about them becoming part of each other's new normal. It made her smile to herself again. It was a nice thought, whether she could be sure if it was starting to happen for them or not.

And then she realized it had been a very long time since she'd even thought about anything lasting longer than a couple months with anyone, and she took an extra big bite of pizza to tamp down the small scream of surprise at herself that was threatening to burst out of her mouth. No, no, that was a crisis for a later time, for when she was alone. Or for never, if her denial was feeling especially strong by that point.

Eddie himself never much had the thoughts or worry about how long a thing would last. They lasted for as long as they did, and then they ended. And it was always a surprise—every time. He didn’t look for it the end—didn’t wait for it, didn’t fear its approach. It was like death; it came for them all, in the end. Or, at least, it was supposed to.

He had been in relationships that lasted two weeks and, of course, the last one had stuck for three years. The end of them all came as a surprise, even if it probably shouldn’t have. The hurt of each was different, but it was still hurt. Still an emotional injury.

Mina didn't often think about these things either. Not consistently, anyway. Her last long-term relationship had been over for five years; everything that came after was either spent trying to find her footing again, or was just two ships passing in the night, so to speak. They ended because things always ended and that was the nature of relationships, as far as she was concerned. Sure, sometimes things would fall apart and she would feel like it was her fault. Okay, that happened a lot, actually, whether it had been her fault or not. But she tried not to think about it, especially when she was in the middle of wondering if that was actually hope lingering at the edge of her thoughts—waiting in the wings for her to turn and look at it. A panicked hope, but...hope nonetheless. And she knew that should make her feel better. Maybe later it would, after the twinge of panic subsided.

But for the time being, hope or panic or whatever it was, she was going to eat her pizza, watch the movie that she hadn't seen in years with the guy she maybe liked a little more than she initially intended, and maybe shift a little closer to him the next time she leaned forward to get another piece of pizza. Yes, good short-term plan. Excellent.

Eddie wasn’t entirely oblivious to her shift in mood, though he couldn’t entirely pinpoint where it was coming from or what had caused it. In lieu of asking if anything was wrong, he instead stood and asked, “Hey, I’m going to grab another water, want something?” He had finished his water in a record time, and, once he had another, he would feel that he had earned a soda or something. It was a little too early to test Venom’s patience with alcohol—watered-down or not. “I’m also gonna bring that other pizza box over so we have variety.”

"Oh, sure," she replied, dazed look fading as she gave him a little smile. "Whatever’s fine. And good idea. God forbid our food choices ever get boring," she joked.

“Hey, food is one of the few really interesting and reliable pleasures in life. It would be an absolute crime against nature if food got boring,” he replied as he brought back his water and the pizza, and then went back into the kitchen to grab her a soda.

“All too true,” she replied, sort of half-watching him out of the corner of her eye. Not really for any reason but just...because he was there and she could. When he sat back down, a little closer to her than before, she asked, “So how’s your week been going? Catch any more bad guys?”

If only she knew how correct her joke was. “One or two,” he said with a smile, opening the second water bottle and taking a swig from it before going on. “But it’s not as fun as it sounds.” He chuckled and shrugged before leaning over to get another slice of pizza. “Basic journalistic heroism,” he said with a grin.

Venom was pleasantly humming a low tone, musing on the bad guys they'd eaten over the last week, as Mina chuckled. "Well, still heroism in my book." She leaned forward and got another slice for herself, smirk tugging at her lips. "And I know I sleep a lot better at night knowing you and your heroism are out there."

He felt a pleasant rush of something tighten in his chest, and he was sure that it wasn’t Venom. If he tried hard enough, he could usually locate the symbiote, and currently they were nestled along the base of his skull. So definitely not them.

She chuckled softly at the almost stunned expression on his face before leaning back in her seat, still looking at him. "I _did_ say that you're my hero, Eddie. And the sincerity of that sentiment doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon." She said it gently, fondly, even as she felt a bit of heat color her face.

“I guess it’s just sort of a new feeling. I haven’t quite adjusted.” He smiled and took a large bite of pizza, chewing slowly to give himself time to contemplate the fact that he was apparently her hero. He supposed that technically he _had_ saved her. But was it really heroism since they’d been looking for a meal?

"You'll get there," she replied, looking at him with a little crooked smile. Then she chuckled again. "Or I'll get you there, whichever happens first."

After stuffing himself with no less than eight slices of pizza, drinking two water bottles, and one soda, and just as their first movie was coming to an end, Eddie decided it was time for a beer. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from the fridge.

_“What are you doing?”_

_Drinking._

_“That wasn’t part of the deal! We’re not staying here again! I am driving us home!”_

_You know she’ll never let us out of the house if we’ve been drinking._

_“I’m not drinking!”_

_Yeah, but she doesn’t know you exist and that I would get home safe as safe can be._ Eddie twisted the bottle open and took a swig, grinning.

_“Bitch.”_

Mina raised a brow when she heard the bottle pop open, and pressed her lips together as she tried to keep from smiling. He knew the rules full well; he knew what he was doing. Still trying to keep her smile under control, she piped up, "Hey, can you grab me one?"

“Yeah, sure.” He grabbed another bottle and walked back to the sofa, plopping down with a slight grunt and handing the bottle off to her. “Okay, so I picked this movie. Now it’s your turn,” he said, swaying his knee ever so slightly as he looked at her. He was leaned back low on the sofa, comfortable and currently full. That probably wouldn’t last very long.

She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him; she'd thought it (and said it) so many times, but, god, he was cute. She took a drink before she replied with grin, "You sure?"

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said with a nod, and took another swallow of his beer. “Go for it.” He smiled at her. “Let me have it. I’m pretty sure I can take it.”

"Oh, don't say that," she said as she stood from the couch. "I have way too many horror movies on these shelves for you to say that." She turned to look at him as she moved closer to the shelves surrounding the TV. "Though I promise I wouldn't put one of those on unless you assured me you were okay with it." She raised three fingers on her right hand. "Scout's honor."

He smiled, eyes wrinkling. “Thank you, I appreciate that.” He wasn’t nearly drunk enough to be down for a horror movie. Though Venom was certainly curious. But that was the last thing Eddie wanted, honestly: Venom getting into horror movies. Their Netflix and Hulu recommendations would be... Oh, they would be horrendous.

"No problem," she replied as she turned back to the shelves. There'd be time for scarier fare another time, she was sure. "Though I think I will subject you to one of my favorites. Because you're here, and, y'know, then you'll understand O'Brien's name."

He blinked and glanced at the dogs, who were curled up several feet away from Mina’s half of the sofa.

They lifted their heads and looked back at him. The dogs were still obviously uncomfortable around him—not that he blamed them. He _did_ have a volatile alien inside of him that usually wouldn’t think twice about eating dogs.

“Muppets?” he asked with a slightly cocked brow, thin wrinkle appearing between them.

"The best Muppets movie ever released," she confirmed. Then she thought for a moment. "Okay, well, _Christmas Carol_ is probably tied for the best." She grinned at him. "But, yes, Muppets."

“Now _that_ one I’ve actually seen.” He hadn’t thought of it until she’d mentioned it, but he really had seen it. At least in passing. He was pretty sure that it had played during a cartoon Christmas marathon a few years back. He had been working, so he hadn’t exactly been paying attention. But it still counted, right?

"Oh, thank god," she said, returning to the couch after putting the DVD in, and sitting a little closer to him than she had been before. "Then you're not entirely a lost cause." Her knee brushed his when she leaned forward for the remote, and their shoulders almost touched when she leaned back in her seat. She turned her head to look at him. "You ready for this?"

He smiled and threw up his hands. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” he chuckled. Eddie honestly didn’t have anything against movies, or even kiddie movies. He just never had any goddamn time. He’d really been making strides in catching up on television with Venom these last few months. Once he’d been able to Hulu, and Netflix, and whatnot. He knew now that he’d have to at least work a minimum wage job, because there would be no going back for the symbiote.

"That's the spirit," she teased, then hit play and settled back next to him. After a few moments, she reached her hand over and took his, little smile settled on her face.

The opening number had no right to go as hard as it did, but god, Eddie couldn’t handle it everything that was going on in it. “What the hell?” he asked, his voice going higher in pitch. “This movie is for kids?” He flailed at the screen with his free hand. “This song is _way_ not for kids!”

_“I assume children movies don’t usually open with multiple murders?”_

Mina laughed, suddenly wishing she was recording his reactions. “Right?! And our parents let us watch this all the time! ‘The devil himself would have to call them scum’? I mean...? But the Muppets are right; more kids movies _should_ start with death by gunshots.” She grinned. “You thought this was gonna be soft and watered-down, didn’t ya?”

“To be quite honest, I didn’t know what I thought. I mean...” He shook his head slightly, rather impressed already with the film despite it taking him by utter surprise. “I feel like this would have been one of those movies I saw, y’know, as a kid, and then didn’t see again for...twenty years or whatever,” he said, waving a hand and looking at Mina. “Y’know? And then when I saw it again, it would have hit me like, oh wow, holy shit, _that’s_ what they were talking about! And it would’ve just blown my mind.” He shook his head. He hadn’t watched a lot of movies as a kid either. He’d been too busy working on getting good grades and getting accepted into extracurricular activities and sports.

“I totally get it,” she replied with a nod. She, meanwhile, had watched far too many movies as a kid and teenager. She spent most every weekend at home, (Lucy had been and still was the social butterfly of the family), hadn’t had many friends at all (thanks to a case of resting bitch face and an off-putting personality to most everyone outside her family), and was notorious for being the moody, quiet kid at the back of every class. Even so, there were some that she’d seen as a kid that she didn’t get to revisit until college, so she knew what he meant.

“This whole movie will probably feel like that for you, even though you haven’t seen it before,” she continued, giving his hand a little squeeze.

She wasn’t wrong. Honestly, though, Eddie was down for any film that had Tim Curry in it; he had to love that guy.

 _“These Muppets... Can we eat them?”_ Venom wondered, curious. He had been drawn into the film just as Eddie had been, though for entirely different reasons.

_Only if you like felt._

Eddie could almost feel Venom making a face. _“Felt?”_

He just gave a very quiet chuckle, then was distracted when Mina sat up a little straighter and said, “Okay, here we go, here come my dogs’ names.”

_“Black-Eyed Pea? ...Wall-Eyed Pike? ...Clueless Morgan? ...Headless Bill? ...Big-Fat-Ugly-Bug-Face-Baby-Eating O’Brien?”_

Eddie laughed, but he still shook his head. “God, _whyyyy_ …? why?” He grinned looking over at her. “Why would you name your dog that?”

She grinned back. “Because it’s funny! And it’s a conversation starter.”

 _“Angel Marie,”_ continued the movie.

“Ah, there’s the other one. Besides, she doesn’t mind it. Do you, Big-Fat-Ugly-Bug-Face-Baby-Eating O’Brien?”

The dog just perked her ears and tilted her head at Mina, causing them both to chuckle.

“I got the idea in college when I was rewatching this, and they’re the first pets I’ve had since I was a kid, so this was basically a long time coming.”

Eddie shook his head and grinned. “You...should never have kids,” he said with a chuckle, obviously joking.

She burst out laughing, glad she hadn't taken a drink like she'd intended to. "Oh, god, that's so mean," she said through chuckles. "But totally fair."

“No, nah, no!” He shook his head and made a face, brows furrowed. He blew out a puff of air as it occurred to him exactly what he had said—and that he had said it out loud. “I mean, you’d probably end up naming them something weird, like, uh...like Oscar...or something.” He made a vague hand gesture. “And that’s just— That’s, like, child abuse, I’m pretty sure.”

Her jaw dropped, but she was still smiling. "What on earth is wrong in the name Oscar? 'Oscar' is a perfectly fine name!"

“Only if it’s Oscar Wilde,” he said with a snort. “Besides, it’s a nerdy name. The kid would get beaten up on the playground.” He took a sip from his beer.

"Says the nerd who just casually name-drops Oscar Wilde," she said, chuckling. "Also, says the nerd named Eddie."

He put up a finger and shook his head slightly. “Hey, don’t diss Wilde. And, if we’re getting technical, my name is Edward.”

"I would never dream of dissing one of my gay elders." Then she made a face, looking at him. "See, and you don't look like an 'Edward'. You're 'Eddie'." She chuckled at herself. "Of course, I have no room to talk. I have a literary _and_ kind of old-timey name. My siblings got off easy, but me? 'Wilhelmina'? It's fine, but it took years to get people to stop calling me 'Will' for short." She raised a brow. "Or 'Hel'. Kids can be mean when they learn how to spell each other's names."

“My point exactly: we got teased because of our names.” He stood and put a hand on her shoulder, looking her square in the eyes. “We cannot curse our kids to suffer the same fate,” he said in a serious whisper before going into the kitchen to snag another soda and beer.

She laughed as he moved away, and her buzzed brain tried to nudge her about the "our kids" phrasing, but she pushed it away. "It's a deal," she replied. "Lucy and I have a similar pact: no naming all our kids after one book we happen to really like. I can respect our mom for sticking to a theme, and the look on people's faces is funny when they meet all three of us at the same time, but... Nah, I can't do it."

“Yeah, I mean it’s kind of cool, but only after you grow up,” he said as he came back with the drinks, setting them on the table for when they needed them.

“Exactly,” she replied. “ _Now_ , it’s a conversation piece.” Like so much else in her life. “ _Then_ , it was like stamping ‘nerd’ on our foreheads.” Then she looked up and realized that the movie was already onto the next musical number. Oh well. If she had her way, it surely wouldn’t be the last time he watched it, or the last time they watched it together.

Eddie was good at multitasking, though, and had only gotten better now that he had to juggle Venom as well as everything else. He hadn’t missed a thing about the film, and was enjoying the music. Of course, a singing Tim Curry was definitely a bonus.

Venom’s focus had been lingering on the movie through all this, and it made Eddie smile to himself. Incredibly powerful (and jealous) alien creature stuck in his head, and they were easily distracted by singing puppets. It was almost endearing.

Admittedly, it wasn’t like anything that Venom had seen before. They had watched a lot of television and a few movies here and there, but nothing like this. The symbiote was...curious about this odd new aspect of entertainment humans made to distract themselves.

Eddie thought maybe they’d have to watch _Little Shop of Horrors_ or something, or things along those lines. Things a little...odd and unusual. Venom would probably get a kick out of them.

Venom was so interested in the movie that he didn't even seem to mind Mina continuing to hold Eddie's hand, or even when she scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. There was a flicker of something from the symbiote when she did this, but apparently they were more curious to find out when Jim Hawkins was going to realize that Long John and the others were pirates, and if they were ever going to find this goddamn treasure everyone kept talking about.

When it was revealed what the treasure was—as with every other show and movie they had seen about treasure—Venom was incredibly disappointed that it was apparently just shiny rocks and metal. Why would humans waste their time with that? Honestly, he would consider a chest filled with chicken nuggets better treasure than that other garbage. It wasn’t even edible!

Eddie laughed at Venom's chicken nugget wish, luckily, right when a joke landed, causing Mina to chuckle as well. _But you could buy chicken nuggets with the treasure, V._

Venom considered this for a moment. _“Or you could just steal the chicken nuggets."_

 _...I guess that's true,_ Eddie thought back, amused.

When it came to food, Venom was very much of the mind that if there was not enough funds for it, then steal it. And, if that didn’t work, humans made pretty good food.

Eddie wasn’t so sure about that last part. He couldn’t taste the humans (thankfully), though the sensations were in fact not lost on him.

“You know what movie I haven’t seen in an age?” Eddie asked, downing the last of his beer before snagging one of the sodas. He wasn’t going to push Venom; it was one thing to be staying, but it was another to force the symbiote to endure more alcohol than necessary. He wasn’t a completely unreasonable host, after all.

Mina leaned up a little to look at him. "What movie?" she replied.

“ _Home Alone: Lost in New York_ ,” he said turning to look at her with a small amused puff and smile. “I watched it a handful of years ago, but its been a long-ass time.”

She smiled. "We're just on a Tim Curry kick, aren't we? Lucky for you, I own that one _and_ the first one. I'm down, if you are."

“Hey, you can’t hate Tim Curry,” he said in his own defense. “And it’s nowhere near Christmas, but...” His smile remained. “...I’m down if you’re down. It’ll be our secret.”

Her smile stretched into a grin. "I won't tell if you won't." She leaned in a little closer. "Besides which," she said, like she were sharing a secret, "I have those movies on all year 'round. It's never too early for _Home Alone_."

“Really? Ah, guess that’s something you get to do when you own movies.” He grinned and laughed, taking up another slice of pizza.

_“What’s Home Alone? You seem excited about it.”_

_It’s a cute holiday movie. It’s about a kick-ass kid who protects his home when his derelict parents leave him home by himself._

_“So, this child is a warrior?”_

Eddie grinned between bites. _Yeah, you could say that._

"True," she said, quirking a brow and taking a drink to finish off her own beer. "And now you get to benefit from my vast collection as well." She stood and went to the island to root around in the bag of snacks he'd brought. "I am a woman of many fringe benefits."

“So I can see,” he said with a grin as his gaze followed her. “Take whatever you want outta there. Although, could you toss me the box of Milk Duds?”

Venom purred inside of him. _“Yes, Milk Duds!”_

"You and Milk Duds, my dude," she said with a grin, and grabbed a pack of Reese's for herself. She gave the box he'd requested a gentle toss as she moved back over to the couch. "At least you're consistent," she teased.

“What can I say?” he replied, catching the box. “Crunchy, and covered in chocolate? Perfect.” He opened it and carefully tucked it between his hip and the sofa arm. It would be out of her direct line of sight, giving Venom prime opportunity to snack on their own, as well as close enough for him to munch on a few himself.

Besides which, she was quickly too distracted by the movie's big end fight starting to have noticed if Eddie was the one crunching on the Milk Duds or not. She chuckled. "You can see so many moments in this scene where Tim Curry is clearly re-realizing that nearly all his co-stars are puppets."

“Don’t you think that would be weird? That’s weird, right? Like, there’s people there, obviously, but you’re talking to a felt puppet some dude has his hand in? Like...?”

_“Does that make you a puppet?”_

Eddie blinked. He...supposed that could be true. The technical definition of puppet beyond the use of something shaped like a human or animal for entertainment’s sake was a person under the control of another power. So...yes?

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. Puppets were pawns, tools, instruments, dupes.

_“You’re no dupe, Eddie.”_

"Exactly!" Mina replied. "And then you have to have a sword fight with the puppet? And that puppet is Kermit the Frog? Also you apparently dated Miss Piggy? And you're Tim fucking Curry?" She laughed. "I bet he had a blast."

“Oh, I’m sure he did. I know I would. I mean, get to meet Kermit the Frog? That’d be pretty cool,” Eddie said with a grin.

She chuckled, grinning back. "Would you be absolutely starstruck? Kermit the Frog, right there in front of you?"

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, expression serious. “Absolutely.”

_“Why would you want to meet a felt puppet?”_

Eddie cracked a smile, flashing his teeth before his smile softened. _It’s just the little kid in me._

_“I don’t know what that means.”_

"I don't blame you," Mina said. "I'd probably just start crying or some shit. 'Rainbow Connection' was the first song I ever learned how to play, so, I amend that, I'd definitely cry."

He chuckled, though he wasn’t mocking her. It was a very visceral thing—meeting a childhood hero. Even if said hero was a felt puppet or some cartoon character.

Eddie recalled when he was a very small boy that he had desperately wanted to meet Winnie the Pooh. From age four to seven, he hoped and prayed and bargained with any higher form of life that his dad would take him to Disneyland so he could meet the real life Winnie the Pooh. But, by seven, he’d come to accept that no god or universal karmic hoo-doo would ever make it happen.

Of course, the year after that conscious acknowledgment that life kind of sucked, he’d been hit by a car. After that, Eddie was pretty sure that there was no point meeting your heroes.

When the movie ended, Mina turned to Eddie. "Now, I have two important questions for you. First of all, what'd you think?"

He shifted where he sat and faced her a little more directly, knee bent against her hip so he could partially rest back against the armrest.

“First of all, I really enjoyed it. I think it’s cute, and I’m a little mad that I hadn’t seen it before. I feel like that’s some sort of crime.”

_“Is it illegal to watch films or...to not watch films?”_

_Somewhere, I’m sure it is._

She smiled wider. "Excellent. I don't have to throw you out on the street. Okay, and, second, do you wanna _just_ watch _Home Alone 2_ , or do you wanna watch both _Home Alone_ -s?"

 _“There are_ two _films where this human child is left alone? I do not think that this child has good parental units.”_

 _Yeah, but he doesn’t need ‘em. He’s a badass all on his own._ Eddie kind of related, or hoped that he related. He wasn’t sure if he had ever really been a badass. He _tried_ to be a badass. But as far as success went...

“Well, I’ve been drinking, so you know my ass isn’t going anywhere. Let’s watch both.”

She practically beamed at him, one brow quirking for a moment. "Eddie Brock, you're my kind of guy." She gave his leg against her hip a pat before she stood to put the first of the two movies in.

Venom rumbled unpleasantly. Holding hands was one thing, but they were getting tired of the other touching. It made them prickle and slink unhappily to curl behind Eddie’s sternum.

Eddie rubbed a hand over his sternum while she wasn’t looking. _It’s okay, buddy._

They kept the comfortable closeness during the first movie. His leg was warm against hers, and she didn't mind the extra body heat. They'd lean over to touch each other's arm or shoulder at an especially funny part, or when they both quoted the same line at the same time. Neither of them had had too much to drink, but they were coasting on that pleasant and familiar buzz from the last time he'd come over.

Venom still wasn't happy about it, but was once again at least partially distracted by the movie. So long as the woman didn't make any sudden movements towards Eddie, there would be no need for an outburst from the symbiote.

Eddie could understand the jealousy—kind of. He could even understand the protectiveness and was...flattered, considering no one had ever really given as much of a shit about him as Venom did. Even Annie paled in comparison, and that was saying something.

It was partway through the movie that they both got distracted with one another, and began talking over the movie. They would occasionally look back and laugh about something, but, for the most part, they were just talking.

It brought on another wave of that nice comfortable feeling that was already settling between them—almost like they were friends who had weekly movie nights, like this was routine. Her earlier anxiety about it seemed to be sitting this one out, and she gave a very soft sigh of relief about it as she propped her arm up on the back of the couch to lean her head against it while she listened to him talk. His aura was a little more pink than usual, as she was finding it often was when he was around her. It was a constant struggle not to smile to herself about it.

They had gotten onto the subject of celebrity crushes, old and new, when Venom drew their attention back away from the film.

_“Like that news lady?”_

_Well...not exactly. I wouldn’t say that she was a “celebrity”..._ The thought of the news lady always made him internally squirm, since he now knew that Venom knew that he’d had one or two inappropriate dreams about the woman.

That, in turn, made him recall his dream from the night before. His gaze refocused on Mina, and his expression dropped. He paled, then flushed a little, ears burning pink. Shit.

She didn't notice at first, but the combination of him basically staring at her, his pink face, and the pink in his aura now mixing with an undeniably nervous shade of orange gave her pause. She blinked at him. "Hey, Eddie, I know I'm great to look at, but something tells me that's not why you're staring at me. You okay?"

“Huh? Oh, uh...” His blush darkened and he cleared his throat. “Y-Yeah, I’m... I’m fine.”

 _“Your pulse has quickened. You’re thinking about her in that way again.”_ The tone in Venom’s voice was teasing but also a little annoyed. 

_No I’m not!_

It didn’t help that now Eddie _was_ thinking about her in that way, but also the fact that Venom had invaded his dream. It made it even more awkward.

The orange and pink around him were getting more vibrant as his blush intensified, and she raised a brow. "You don't...look fine."

She was trying to think through her buzz about how their topic of conversation could be linked to the expression on his face. Celebrities, celebrity crushes— Crushes. And they were literally sitting next to each other. Oh. "Crushes" seemed like a strange way to put it for people their age, but she thought she could see where his train of thought had strayed.

"Just going out on a limb here, but is it something to do with me? Not anything I said or did, but just...me in general?" she asked, gesturing to herself.

“No—!” he tried to say, but Venom made him jerk his head in a nod. He internally groaned and cursed the symbiote.

Venom theorized that if the woman knew that Eddie had been thinking inappropriate thoughts about her, she would be offended. Perhaps she would ask them to leave. Especially if she knew that he had not only been thinking inappropriate thoughts, but had an entirely inappropriate dream about her! Surely, she wouldn’t be alright with that!

Mina blinked at him again, confused by the contradiction in his words and motions. "It's okay if it is. You can tell me, seriously. I mean, you look like you're about to burst into flames. I really don't think you could say anything that would shock me, Eddie."

“Oh, it’s just... It’s...” He cringed. Embarrassing. Humiliating. Maybe he really would burst into flames. God, he couldn’t get the image of her naked out of his head, and the occasional flash of Venom and all those teeth and tongue... Fuck.

He was sure Venom was either slipping those images into his head or was preventing them from leaving. Bastard.

She gave him a reassuring smile, chuckling softly. "Seriously, Eddie, whatever it is, it's okay. I promise." She sounded relaxed, but she could feel her heart thrumming in her chest. Her brain was making assumptions, and she wasn't sure if she wanted them to be right or not yet.

“No, it’s— I mean, it is, but, uh...” It _was_ okay, because he wasn’t objectifying her consciously. It happened to basically everyone, after all. But...he didn’t want her to know! Then it wouldn’t be okay! Because then it could embarrass her!

"You look like you're gonna have an attack," she said, chuckling again. "I'm not laughing at you, I swear, it's just... God your aura is bright orange right now. Even without that, I can tell you're kind of freaking out. If you tell me, you'd probably feel better."

“Oh, it’s...” He let out a puff of stressed air, then admitted, “It’s just a dream I remembered.” He shook his head. “Nothing important.”

"Oh," she said, sounding almost relieved. She picked up her drink. "Was I half-naked or fully naked?" she joked.

From his neck up, Eddie flushed a bright red, brows knitting and eyes going slightly wide as the image of her naked and now on top of him flashed at the center of his mind’s eye. _Fuck._ If this wasn’t Venom’s doing somehow, he was going to throw himself off a bridge.

She looked back at him, and nearly choked on her drink when she saw the look on his face. She swallowed hard and said, "Oh. I-I was kidding, but..." Her own face started to tinge pink, but she gave a small laugh as she turned to face him again. "Eddie, it really is fine. I mean, that's normal. We've been seeing each other a lot, and..." She ran a hand through her hair to keep from reaching over to take his hand or touch his shoulder. At this moment, she thought it might feel just a smidge awkward. "Truth be told...I'm kind of...flattered." She scrunched her nose a little. "Is that weird?"

_“What?!”_

“What?” Eddie asked aloud. He was surprised—even confused—, but his expression did slowly begin to relax. “You… You are?”

"Yeah, I mean..." She looked down at her hands, but she was smiling. "Hearing something like that from...certain others I've known was definitely weird. A little creepy." She turned her head and gave him a crooked smile. "But I gotta be honest, I don't really mind it coming from you."

“Yeah? Well... I promise, I don’t... I’m not...” He gave her an awkward crooked smile back. “As corny as it sounds, my intentions are actually...decent.”

 _“So...you’re_ not _going to try and fuck her?”_ Venom couldn’t bring themself to think of it as “making love” (as some humans called it), or even just plain “sex”. “Sex” sometimes lead to feelings. “Fucking” could, but didn’t as frequently. At least, that’s how it worked as far as they had gleaned from the few hosts he’d had, and while rifling through Eddie’s memories.

Eddie almost choked at the question, but covered it up with a quiet throat-clearing sound and ignored Venom for the moment.

She chuckled as the orange around him started to fade and the pink started to come back in. "It _is_ corny," she replied, "but also sweet. You're sweet." Now she reached over and took his hand, holding back from telling him that maybe she didn't want his intentions to always be decent—and also holding back from kissing him on the cheek. God, but she wanted to.

"But, yeah, it's all fine. No need to stress about it so much, Eddie." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before standing and starting towards the kitchen. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I've had that kind of dream about you, too."

His whole body flushed hot, then cold, before settling on a more tepid temperature. Or as tepid as his temperature could get. He blinked, surprised once again. What...had she said? _What?_

Venom hissed. What the actual fuck? This hadn’t gone at all how they had hoped it would.

She came back with the whole bag of snacks he'd brought, setting it in one of the empty pizza boxes. Her cheeks turned pink again at the sight of his face. "I mean, like I said, we've been seeing a lot of each other. It's just...sort of how my brain operates when I even remotely like someone." She ran a hand through her hair again, trying to shove the image of his head between her thighs out of her mind—and doing so with a near flawless poker-face, if she were to say so herself. "And I really like you, so..."

He let out a puff of laughter, though it was weak. “So you like me, huh?” he asked, clearing his throat and scratching at the scruff along his jaw. That was...a nice confirmation. He didn’t quite feel as guilty now about what his subconscious had dug up.

"Yeah," she said, chuckling back. "Maybe a little more than I originally intended, but..." She sat down next to him again. "And, hey, I just wanna let you know... Whatever my brain digs up for me to dream about doesn't reflect my, uh, expectations or anything. It's just a thing it does, because apparently being bi wasn't enough on its own; I also have to dream about every attractive person I run into, whether I like it or not." She smiled at him, the expression almost a grin. "Though you've shown up more than once over the last few weeks, so I think that means your chances are good," she teased.

He blushed but now for a slightly different reason. Well… “I guess...I just never expect it when it happens,” he admitted with an awkward laugh and crooked smile. “But...last night was a first. With you, I mean. Or, well, not _with_ -with you, but, uh... Well, you know what I mean.”

She chuckled. "I do know what you mean. It's okay, Eddie, really. Even if that one hadn't been the first like that, it'd still be okay." She leaned in a little closer. "Also, I hate to shock you with this information, but you're very attractive. And I don't care if that's my opinion; right now, in this room, mine is the only one that matters on that subject," she said with a grin.

He smiled, face pleasantly warm. His stomach was squirmy, and his chest tight—though that may have been Venom. “Thank you. You are too. And...I’m flattered.” It sounded almost like a joke, but he really was. It was always nice when someone said that you were handsome. It was a nice ego boost. Eddie enjoyed it just as much as the next person.

"Thank you," she replied, a little color in her face as well. "And I'm glad you are." She picked up a box from the snack bag and held it out to him, grinning again. "Now eat some Milk Duds and take some deep breaths, Eddie."

He chuckled and accepted the box, tossing the now empty one onto the table with the empty pizza box. He opened the lid, the scent of wafer and chocolate hitting his nose for the briefest of seconds. “Yes, ma’am.”

The earlier relaxed, comfortable mood was slow to return, but return it did by the last part of the movie with Kevin setting up all the traps inside his home. Nothing could deter them from reveling in the mayhem that was about to ensue.

Venom munched on their second box of candy and watched with amusement as the child obliterated the thieves. He liked this human child! He was...refreshing and self-reliant, unlike so many other human children he had seen.

Eddie was the last to relax, but finally also found himself drawn into the chaos of the last third of the film. Honestly, he didn’t understand how people couldn’t like this movie. Sure, it was kind of garbage, but sometimes garbage was fun. It was sort of like your favorite candy that you maybe ate too much of as a kid. Sure, it wasn’t the best out there, but it made you happy, and that was all that mattered.

Mina was glad to see his tension had started to ease, the orange around him shifting back to the reds and pinks she’d grown accustomed to seeing. They were both right; it really wasn’t a big deal, but...she sort of liked that it was a big deal to him. At least, big enough to get flustered about. Like so many things he did and said, she couldn’t help but find it cute, and more than a little endearing.

“God, that kid’s parents are shit,” Eddie said when the movie ended and the credits rolled. “All these years later, and it still makes me mad.” He shook his head and laughed at himself a little.

 _“He doesn’t even require his parental units. That child could survive on his own,”_ Venom said confidently.

“Right?!” Mina replied. “Like, Jesus, I get it’s a big family, but, c’mon, to forget your own kid? On Christmas? Twice?” She pushed herself up to go put the next movie in. “They’re the kind of people who should’ve stopped after one.”

“Yeah, seriously.” He stood and picked up their empties, piling them all up in the empty pizza box and carrying them into the kitchen. “Hey, do you recycle?” he asked, shaking the soda can in one hand. He set the bottles and cans on the counter and then broke down the first box of Milk Duds. 

“Yeah, just put ‘em in the sink,” she replied. “I’ll rinse them later.” It was practically illegal to live in her neighborhood and not recycle, at that point.

He nodded and put the beer bottles and soda cans in the sink. “Cardboard?” he asked, breaking down the pizza box and tossing the wax liner in the trash.

“Drawer next to the under of the sink. It’s a cleverly disguised trash can,” she said with a little smile to herself.

Once he had finished cleaning up a little, Eddie rejoined her in the living room. “Alright, movie number two. Let’s do this,” he said with a grin.

“Hell yeah,” she said, grinning back as she dropped back down next to him. “And thanks for doing that.” She nodded towards the kitchen. “I appreciate it.”

“No, yeah, of course. I mean, I can’t just crash on your sofa, eat your food, and not at least throw stuff away. I mean...” He gave her an awkward look. “That’s just...wrong.”

She smiled a little wider, chuckling. “God, that’s refreshing. I brought this girl I was seeing back here once in a while, and, god, she always left this place such a mess! Whoever said women are the neatest of the genders never met this girl. Also, speaking as a bi, we’re all disasters. I’ve yet to meet one who was especially neat and tidy. If I ever meet one, I feel like it’ll be like seeing a cryptid version of myself.”

He nodded. “I think people are all inherently a mess, honestly. In one way or another. Whether it’s like...in their homes—leaving laundry around or dirty dishes or whatever...” He gestured with his hand while he talked. “Or like out there—in the career never quite making it, or making it, but in, like, the worst way possible. Humans are... We’re a mess.”

“God, you’re right. We _are_ a mess.” She have a little shrug and smiled. “At least we’re all in it together, though.”

He chuckled. “True.”

_“Anne isn’t a mess.”_

_Yes, well, Anne is a goddess,_ Eddie thought with a sad sort of fondness. She was...a one-of-a-kind woman. She knew what she wanted, and knew how to handle herself and her life, and she was remarkably good at juggling all these things and making it look easy. Eddie hadn’t deserved her.

Their conversation got Mina wondering if there had been a time where her life hadn’t been so messy. The only thing she could think of was when she was a little kid and her biggest concern was if Jonathan had taken all the good Legos _again_. Even then...

Sure, some periods of her life had been messier than others—literally and figuratively—, but maybe she was just one of those people that was destined for mess. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. At least where she was now, she had a pretty good handle on the mess. Having some sense of control over it was always better than feeling like she was drowning in it.

She wondered if she could ever live through drowning in it again, and forced her attention onto the movie. The word “drowning” always brought back memories she preferred not to discuss—though not in the way most people thought it did. But that was a topic for another time, as she was starting to realize much of her life up to that point was.

The mood had gone down a bit, and they sat in a heavy quiet for the first few minutes of the movie. But that was okay. Sometimes it was alright to sit in silence and feel whatever it was that was weighing on a person. At least for a short while.

She reached over and took his hand again around the time that Kevin was discovering that he’d boarded a plane to New York City instead of Florida, and looked at him for a moment. “You doing okay?” She asked it casually, not really from any point of specific concern. She just knew her brain was feeling a little weird at the moment, and her gut instinct when that happened was to check on whoever was around her at the time. It was little more than a useless gesture when she was home alone with her dogs, however.

There was a beat of silence, but he curled his fingers around hers. He nodded subtly. “Yeah.” He smiled and looked over at her. “I’m okay.” He was. It was easy to get pulled down by the past, but, lately, it didn’t last long— or not as long as it used to, anyway.

Actually, if he thought about it, really thought about it, he was better than okay. He had an okay apartment. He was making his rent. They were kind of doing the hero thing—kind of. He was getting to hang out with a really cool lady who he really liked, and so far Venom hadn’t eaten her out of sheer envy and jealousy, so...yeah. He was pretty okay.

She smiled back at him. "Good." Her eyes shifted to the air around him again. "You certainly look okay."

“Yeah? I actually combed my hair,” he said with a grin, running his hand over his short hair. “I don’t know if it helped, but I did it,” he joked.

She grinned, nose scrunching. "It might've helped a little. But then I'm biased; I think you always look good."

 _“Perhaps her taste isn’t so bad after all,”_ Venom mused.

Eddie’s grin grew. Wow. That might as well have been leaps and bounds, coming from the symbiote.

_Thanks, buddy._

She laughed softly, then scooted closer, legs curled up on the couch under her. Part of her still couldn't believe they were both up for the fourth movie of the night. So few others she'd brought home for movie nights had made it through two, never mind four.

Of course, it wasn't long after she thought this that she felt her eyes starting to droop. She didn't even know what time it was; she knew looking would just make her feel more tired. Her tiredness seemed inescapable, though. Before the movie ended, her heavy eyelids finally closed, and she slumped over slightly against the thing nearest her—Eddie.

Eddie looked over at her when he realized she wasn’t just leaning on him, but was sleeping on him. He gave a very quiet chuckle, smiling fondly. _Well, looks like we’re sleeping here._

_“Weren’t we already?”_

Eddie smiled, tired himself. _Yeah... You going to be okay like this?_

 _“I know how to work the TV.”_

Even though he wasn't talking out loud, Mina gave a little hum in her sleep as if she’d heard him, snuggling against his shirt and taking a deep breath before settling again. He was so warm; she couldn't help herself, even while asleep.

Eddie smiled again, then leaned his head back and sighed contently, shifting slightly under her just to ease his lower back. She shifted with him as if she’d been expecting it, still asleep. He fell asleep fairly quickly, not needing to do much adjusting at all to the extra weight against him.

The only sounds in the apartment were their quiet, even breathing and the television playing on at a lower volume than before. If they’d been awake, they both might have thought that it was possibly the most peaceful and the most calm they’d each felt in a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another long chapter, just for y'all! another reminder that uploading will be slowing down in the near future so that we can get some more written between updates and have more content for you all. as for this chapter, a lot of this was something we'd been talking about writing nearly from the get-go, so we're really excited this chapter is finally going up! enjoy~!
> 
> thank you to everyone who's keeping up with this story, and to all the new people just joining in. we love all the comments and feedback, and we hope you're enjoying the story. thank you, thank you! ^u^


	11. Cozy Mornings and Chocolate Chips

Mina had hazy dreams that night—something about a rainstorm and blankets and cuddling and forehead kisses on the couch. It was soft and warm and safe...and it was with Eddie.

She realized this right as she woke up, still in her living room, still on the couch...and still on Eddie.

She didn't move at first, blood rushing to her face. Oh, god, she'd fallen asleep on  _ Eddie _ . And dreamt about Eddie. God. She’d always thought those cutesy, cozy dreams about someone were worse than the sex ones. At least, where her brain was concerned.

They had shifted a bit in the night—with some help. Eddie was stretched out on his back, still dead asleep, and Mina stretched out on top of him with her head on his chest.

He shifted and smacked his lips a little when she shifted on top of him, then gave a sigh, still asleep. 

She took a couple deep breaths, then let herself settle back against his chest. She didn't want to wake him, and, truthfully, despite her slight embarrassment at their current position...she didn't really want to get up yet either.

She closed her eyes again, little smile on her face. She didn't quite fall back asleep, but did doze on-and-off. Mostly, she was listening to his heartbeat, his breathing—reveling in the quiet for a little while longer.

Venom, meanwhile, was very much awake, and had been most of the night. Watchful. They usually were whenever they were not at home. They’d kept dreams at bay throughout the night, too—mostly because they didn’t know what sort of dreams would be brewing with the Mina woman so close to Eddie for so long. But, after they’d had enough of Mina not waking up and, in turn, waking Eddie up, Venom took matters into their own hands.

_ “Eddie. You should wake up now.” _

Eddie stirred a little at the prodding in his mind, and gave another long sigh.

Mina felt him shifting, and shifted a little herself, though didn't lift her head yet. She did give a quiet hum, though, fingers curling gently against his chest.

He gave a tired groan and looked down at her, blinking blearily. “Morning,” he said, voice hoarse and quiet with sleep. 

"Morning," she murmured back, finally turning her head to look up at him. She gave a tired smile. "Come here often?"

“Hmm. Once or twice.” He smiled. “Not often enough, though,” he said with a flash of teeth and a sleepy stretch and groan. He was careful not to roll her off the sofa as he did. 

She chuckled, shifting onto her stomach and resting her chin on her hand laying flat on his chest. God, he was cute. "I hope you got some sleep, despite the whole extra person sleeping on top of you," she said, giving him an apologetic look.

He curled one arm under his head, propping himself up to better look at her. “Actually, I slept pretty well.” He always slept better when he wasn’t alone. Venom offered warmth he craved, but her added weight had been nice. He liked cuddling more than he often let on at first. 

“Good. I did, too, matter of fact.” She also liked cuddling, especially with someone as warm as he always seemed to be. Besides which, it just felt safer sleeping next to someone else. And waking up next to one or both of her dogs wasn’t quite the same as waking up next to someone else.

She looked at him for a moment, blinking as a wayward strand of hair fell in her face. “I suppose you‘d like me to get off you now?”

“My bladder would appreciate it,” he said with a sleepy grin. He didn’t mind her laying on him, but he probably should get up, go to the bathroom, splash some cold water on his face, stretch. 

“Fair enough,” she said with a sleepy grin of her own, then gave a little groan as she rolled up off of him to stand up. Her vision swam for a moment at the sudden shift in position, but she closed her eyes and stretched her arms over her head while she waited for it to pass.

He shifted and sat up, head swimming a little before he stood. He stretched and groaned as well, hoodie raising up as he stretched his arms above his head, flashing just the tiniest glimpse of his stomach. He sighed and let his arms drop once he had stretched and the tension left his body. “I’m just gonna freshen up,” he said before shuffling, a little stiffly, towards the bathroom. 

She chuckled as he shuffled away. “Take your time,” she replied, then dropped back down on the couch.

After a moment, she grabbed up her phone and was met with an all-caps text from Lucy that had come in about a half-hour before that simply read,  _ SO DID HE SPEND THE NIGHT AGAIN OR NOT? _

She chuckled again and replied,  _ he did. there was cuddling. fill you in later. _

Then, while Eddie was in the bathroom, she slipped into her room and swapped out the pants she’d slept in for her pajama pants. Then she ran a quick brush through her hair; there was really no helping it sometimes, but she couldn’t be blamed for trying.

Then she wondered if she should try to get food into the apartment again before he could stop her... Decisions, decisions.

After relieving the annoyingly dull ache in his bladder, Eddie splashed some water in his face, and wondered if he should start traveling with his toothbrush in his bag. He made do with simply gargling and scraping at his teeth with his nail. At least it was better than nothing. 

When he came back out to the living room, he met Mina’s gaze and smiled, much more awake. “So, what do you want to do for breakfast? We could order in, or go out, or...” He lightly clapped his hands together. “...we could make something here.”

She raised a brow, then raised her right hand. “You really wanna mix this with an open flame? You trying to kill me, Eddie?” she teased, though she stood as she said it and moved towards the kitchen. 

He chuckled. “No, I’m not trying to kill you. But I, admittedly,  _ am _ curious about your homemade chocolate chip pancakes.” 

"Of course you are," she said with a grin, opening cupboards. "You just can't help yourself. But, my dear Eddie, you are in luck. Apparently my sister possesses some of my clairvoyance and stocked me up with everything I need." The dear. She'd have to thank her later.

She leaned back to look at him. "You realize this means you'll be helping me, right?"

“I’d be helping you even if you had two good hands,” Eddie said as he shuffled into the kitchen with her. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a puff of air. “To be honest, I’m sort of a shit cook, but I can follow instructions well enough.” 

_ “Ha,” _ Venom laughed. _ “Yeah right.” _

"You're sweet," she replied, grabbing out a bag of chocolate chips. "I'll go easy on you this time." Then she pointed up in to the cupboard. "Can you grab that bag of flour up there?" She usually used a mix when she was making them for herself, but that morning—even with the cast—, she was willing to do it the old-fashioned way.

He grabbed down the flour and set it on the counter. “Oh, yes. Please take it easy on me,” he chuckled.

She grinned wider. “I’ll do my damndest.”

He then pulled down a bowl and everything else that Mina instructed him to grab. 

"Now, if either of my siblings were here," she said, pulling out measuring cups and spoons, "they'd be carefully measuring out the ingredients and using the flat side of a butter knife to get the perfect scoops. Open that bag and hold onto it for me," she said, bringing the one-cup scoop closer. "But they're not here, and these are  _ our _ pancakes, so if we fuck it up..." She scooped out some flour, shook off some excess, then dumped it in the bowl. Only a small sprinkling dropped onto the counter. "...then it's  _ our _ fuck-up." She smiled up at him. "But I've been using that method for years, and let me tell you something: I have never fucked up my pancakes. And I think you'll like 'em better than anyone's so-called perfect ones anyway," she said, scooping out another half-cup or so of flour.

“Sometimes the fucked-up goodies are the best. They make the best memories in my experience,” he said helping as instructed. “I think some of my favorite meals came out of happy fuck-ups.”

She chuckled. "Mine too." She paused and looked at him again. "You want, like...a lot of pancakes, right? Just...a ridiculous amount of pancakes?"

He laughed at her jibe at him. Okay, yes, he ate a lot. But, of course, he wasn’t solely eating for himself. Oh, that sounded like he was pregnant... Well, he  _ did _ have a parasite...

_ “I am  _ not _ a parasite!” _

Venom was, in fact, a parasite.

_ “Take it back right now!” _

"I will take that as a 'yes'," she said, scooping more flour into the oversized bowl.

She had him measure out anything that required teaspoons or tablespoons; him pouring and her trying to hold the spoons steady didn't sound like the best of ideas. By the time they got to the eggs and the butter, their faces were only partially smeared with the other ingredients

She looked up at him, a dusting of flour on one cheek and a smear of sugar on her forehead. "Alright, Eddie. This is the most crucial part." She held up the bag of chocolate chips. "Dump the whole bag in."

His brows shot up. “The whole bag?” he asked, voice a little squeaky. “That’s a lot of chocolate chips.” He chuckled and opened the bag. He didn’t sound upset about it. And Venom was certainly interested. In fact, they were  _ enthusiastically _ interested in the entire bag of chocolate chips.

He carefully poured the whole bag in, stealing one chip and eating it himself. 

“Ah, you cheater,” she accused, even while she did the same and stole one for herself.

Once all of the batter was mixed, Eddie went about getting the pans they would need out. He would, of course, be helping her pour the batter, but flipping and such would be entirely up to her. He wanted to see what  _ her _ pancakes turned out like. 

Meanwhile, he would fry up some bacon and eggs, and pop bread in the toaster. They’d have an all-out breakfast spread. 

"You're a little bit of a sadist, aren't you, Eddie?" she asked, watching him pour a scoop of the batter into the heated frying pan.

“Not at all,” he was far from a sadist. Maybe a touch sadistically-curious, but, in reality, he was far too soft. If pressed, he was was definitely more a masochist than a sadist. “I just really want them to be  _ your _ pancakes.” 

She smiled at him as she pulled a spatula out of a drawer. "Trust me, you won't mistake them for anyone else's."

All her focus was on the frying pan in front of her after that. Her tongue peeked out from between her teeth as she waited, and she bit down on it as she maneuvered her left hand to get the spatula under the pancake. Using her right fingers to help steady, she flipped it to reveal a perfect golden color on the other side.

She put both her hands up in surprise, still holding the spatula. "Okay, I'm shocked that didn't fly out onto the floor."

Eddie grinned while he worked on frying up the bacon. The whole apartment smelled like sweet savory goodness. Thick and sweet, and mouthwatering. 

“How do you like your bacon? Are you one of those floppy weirdos, or do you like it crispy?” he asked as he used a fork to turn the slices over. “And your eggs—do you want ‘em fried up? Scrambled? God forbid hard-boiled or something; if so, you’re on your own.” He chuckled. 

"I'm a simple woman, Eddie," she replied, peeking at the underside of the pancake before deciding it was done and very carefully lifting it out of the pan and putting it on a plate. "Crispy bacon, and fried or scrambled eggs—it makes me no never mind." She grinned at him. "Jonathan is one of those floppy bacon weirdos, if you needed more reasons not to like him."

“Ew.” He made a face, grimacing at the mere thought as he poured another scoop of batter into the pan for her. “That’s so wrong.” He then set the bacon onto a paper towel to let the fat drip. “Alright. I’ll fry up some eggs, then. Eggs fried up in bacon fat—nothing like it.” He grinned, pulling the eggs out of her fridge.

"God, you get me," she said, watching the new pancake begin to bubble in the pan. One down, and no disaster yet. Sure, they were turning out a little less round than usual, but she hadn't dropped or burned one yet, so, as far as she was concerned, she was golden.

He helped divide the stacks as the pancakes slowly piled up. The eggs and bacon, toast, and pancakes all had their own plates that made their way onto the island behind them.

He scratched the back of his neck as he observed the kitchen from behind Mina’s back. It was... Well, it was a mess. There was food, food spatters, and flour everywhere. Not to mention utensils. So many utensils. He would definitely be helping clean this up. 

She'd always figured, though, that it wasn't a meal worth having if you didn't make at least a  _ little _ bit of a mess making it. Though, god, if Lucy knew what the place looked like right that moment... But, again, Lucy wasn't there.

When she flipped the last pancake onto a plate and turned off the burner, she gave a quiet sigh of relief. No fire, and no burnt food. Everything else was manageable.

She smiled up at him. "It's probably a little late to ask, but do you want some coffee?"

“I’ll make it. You go sit and eat,” Eddie said with a smile, turning and grabbing the coffee tin. It was a higher end brand—different than the one she’d had last time. He’d had a passing wondering if it was any good. Even when he sort of had some money, he always bought the cheapest coffee.

He was of the belief that coffee that tasted like mud, and booze that cost five bucks still got you where you needed to go, so why waste money on a brand label? Not that he was judging her taste. 

She’d had most of her fill of cheap coffee (and booze, for that matter) in college; no, now she drank stuff that actually tasted good. To her, anyway. Made getting up in the mornings a little easier. Lucy had done the last grocery run for her, and Lucy always drank the best (coffee, booze, whatever), so...

“You sure?” she asked, pulling down plates and silverware for them, and set on the very messy and food-covered island behind them.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You did all that cooking.” Sure, she had just made the pancakes, but  _ still _ , she had a broken wrist. He wasn’t going to push her beyond her limits. Even if this was nowhere near them, he wasn’t going to be a complete asshole.

“Oh, alright if you insist,” she replied, feigning exasperation as she leaned over to give him a side-hug—arm around his middle and cheek pressed against his shoulder. She gave him a little squeeze before she turned to go towards her room. “I’ll be right back.” She knew there was pancake ingredients all over her face, and it suddenly occurred to her that rinsing it all off before they ate was probably a good idea.

While the coffee machine bubbled and gurgled, Eddie went about doing a quick cleanup. He knew there would have to be a true deep-clean later, but, for now, he settled for wiping flour off the counter and into his hand, and dumping as much as he could into the trash. He put dishes in the sink, and poured water into or on them. 

Mina came back a couple minutes later, smiling a little at the slightly straightened-up kitchen. "So, you make coffee  _ and _ you clean? I knew there was a reason I liked you, Eddie."

He glanced over his shoulder at her; he had found a pair of mugs and was in the middle of pouring their coffee. “Oh well, it’s not my house.” He shot her a smile before looking back at the mugs. “How do you want your coffee?” 

"With a little milk, please," she replied, and moved around the island to start divvying up the food onto their plates. "Any special request for our viewing pleasure while we eat this feast?"

He shook his head. “No, I’m really good with anything. Food and coffee is perfect for me; you go ahead and pick the entertainment,” he said as he poured maybe a little too much sugar into his own coffee. Ever since Venom he had...splurged with the sugar. Not that he entirely minded. Why not enjoy a little?

He carried their two mugs and his own plate out to the living room. 

She chuckled as she set her plate on the coffee table and turned on the TV. “Someday, Eddie, you will get sick of putting all the decision-making power in my hands. I am not to be trusted at all times.”

_ “Not likely,” _ Venom chuckled at the base of Eddie’s skull. 

Eddie wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but...

“Hey, so far your choices haven’t lead me astray. Maybe your decision-making for yourself isn’t so great, but, so far, they’ve been pretty rad for me.” He sat down with a cheeky grin. “I mean, food, drinks, movies, relaxing, badass art I only kind of understand? C’mon, girl.” 

She laughed as she sat down next to him. "Well, thank you. We'll see if you're still saying that when I do get around to picking scarier fare for us to watch," she said with a grin. "And, hey, at least you openly admit you only kind of understand my work. I can respect that."

“Art is subjective. So, what the public might get out of a piece...it might be  _ miles _ away from what the artist originally intended—like, not even close. Different stratosphere,” he said waving a hand over his head.

She smiled at him fondly as she picked up the remote and came back to sit next to him. "You're absolutely right. I once had this guy at a gallery night try to explain my aura paintings to me before I could even try to." She gave a little eye-roll. "Explaining my own work to me was bad enough, but then he... Well, he basically said that I was stealing styles and schemes from artists more skilled and well-known than I would ever be, and therefore my work could never truly have meaning at all." She took a sip of coffee. "Talk about your stratospheres—try to explain my own work to me and then ten seconds later say that, actually, it has no meaning whatsoever."

“He probably had a small cock,” Eddie snorted. “Only feels good when he gets to act all smart and tell powerful women their business.” He sipped his coffee. Eddie had no time for weak ass piss ants like that.

She nearly choked on her coffee at that. “You’re probably right. I think he was some critic for a small-time publication. Or maybe even a blog, who knows." If he'd made it back to her self-portraits... But, luckily, he'd left early in the night and didn't even look at all of her work. She shook her head. "People are...weird. But I'd rather have people ask, or tell me what it means to  _ them _ , or...well, admit they're not sure," she said, smiling at him again.

He gave her a little smile back before he spoke again. “I mean, when you get down to it, all art is theft. From...cavemen painting on walls, showcasing their daily lives, the things they hunted, to...well, everything. Art is theft in its most basic form. But...” He looked at her. “...in a way it’s...also flattery. Even if it’s angry art.”

She nodded now, smile softening. “Exactly. And sometimes angry art is the most...cathartic. For artist and audience.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely.” There was definitely truth in that statement. Eddie almost wished that he had been an artist. Maybe it would have... 

“Okay, so, what are we watching with our breakfast?” he asked before taking a bite of egg. Definitely needed to distract himself from that line of thinking.

"Oh," she said, picking up the remote. Right, breakfast. That was a thing that was happening. "Do you watch  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ ? I mean, I'm putting it on anyway, but..."

_ “Nine-nine?” _

Eddie almost laughed. “Yeah, I’m on season two.” He grinned. “I love this show; it’s hilarious.” 

She beamed. "Isn't it? God, I love it. What episode are you on? I'll put on that one."  _ B99 _ and breakfast? God, she was loving this whole dating-Eddie thing.

Eddie told her to scroll till he spotted the episode title that he was on. He had been watching it nightly with Venom lately, but only a few at a time so that they wouldn’t rush through it and wind up with no more episodes until the next season aired.

She hit play, and they curled up with their plates on their laps to watch. She was completely caught up on the show, and promised not to give any spoilers regarding major events. It was too funny of a show to even be tempted to spoil, anyway.

He laughed openly, as he had with the other things they’d watched. He didn’t hesitate to express when he found something funny, or surprising. Eddie was honest; it was one of the reasons they got along so well. His emotions were right there—on his sleeve, easy to read. Even for someone who didn’t have the benefit of seeing people’s emotions and states of being manifest as a color wheel.

And she loved how honest he was, especially with when he found something funny. It made being around him, well, fun. And it made watching things that he hadn’t seen before that much more fun. It was like being reminded all over again of why she found the thing so funny in the first place. It was nice. No, more than nice—it was great. 

They got through three or four episodes, slowly working on eating up all of the food that they had made—and they had made a  _ lot _ of food. As he’d learned, Mina wasn’t one to skimp on this kind of thing.

Once they had finished the food, Eddie took their dishes to the kitchen. He knew that he should  _ probably _ start preparing to get ready to at least  _ think _ about leaving. Not that he wanted to do that at all. 

But then he also needed to clean up the kitchen. He supposed that would take awhile, and he  _ needed _ to stay for that... 

He could feel Venom shifting around behind his ribs. Sure, the pancakes had satisfied the hunger pangs, and the chocolate had more than sated them, but the idea of staying was making the symbiote antsy. Even if it was what Eddie wanted.

“I take it the pancakes were a hit,” Mina said to him, finishing her second cup of coffee and carrying her empty mug into the kitchen. 

“Oh yeah, definitely. That cast hardly hinders you,” he said as he filled up the sink with hot water and poured in some dish soap in. “They taste better than mine, that’s for sure.” 

“I’ll take your word for it on that.” He’d claimed he was a shit cook enough times for her to believe it.

She set her mug by the sink. “Hey, no one said you were on dish duty,” she gently teased. She hoped he knew that she didn’t expect him to clean her kitchen when she was the one who made a mess of it. Well, partially her, anyway.

“Considering the fact that your cast isn’t supposed to get wet, I think that automatically means that I am on dish duty,” he countered, and began scrubbing away at the dirty dishes one by one.

She made a face, but left him to the work and returned to the couch to put on season one episodes of B99 so Eddie wouldn’t miss anything while he did the dishes.

He scrubbed, then rinsed, then stuck them in the drying rack. Who actually dried dishes anyway?

She’d glance up every once in a while, that fond look back in her face. That feeling of quiet normalcy was back, and it didn’t carry that peripheral sense of panic she’d had the night before. It might come back later, but that didn’t matter. Right now, one of her favorite shows was on, and the guy she was seeing was doing her dishes without even being asked. Right now, things were good. 

_ “Why don’t you wash  _ our _ dishes?” _

_ Well, for one thing, we don’t have dishes that require washing. And, when we  _ did _ , you ate them. So paper plates is just better for us, I think. _ Eddie smiled while he scrubbed at the pancake batter bowl.

Venom paused for a moment.  _ “Fair enough.” _

The sound coming from the TV caught his attention again.  _ "Good lord! Where did he get that?!" _

_ "Oh my god, we're doomed. Boyle looks like a lesbian." _

Mina gave a spluttering laugh, nearly spitting out her water. "Oh, god… I am not ashamed to say I laughed so hard I snorted the first time I saw this episode, oh my god."

“Sounds like it still is pretty effective,” Eddie replied with a grin. That episode  _ was _ hilarious; he had nearly snorted chow mein through his nose the first time he had seen it. 

“Can you blame me?” she replied with a grin of her own. “It doesn’t help that Lucy owns a jacket exactly like that—making it an official lesbian jacket.”

That got a clatter from the kitchen followed by a loud “HA” of laughter. Oh, he could just see that. Lucy was a rather petite woman—almost the stereotypical lipstick type. But in that jacket? Oh, he had to see that sometime. 

That reminded Mina of something. “Wait, I think I have photographic evidence.” She hopped up from the couch and went into her room. She came back a few seconds later with a picture in her hand. “We dressed up last Halloween as some of the characters from the show, which I insisted on because of Lucy’s jacket.” She came to stand next to him, holding the picture out. “Oh, and Bev’s knife is very much not real. I only say so because she’d be the type to carry a real one and get away with it.”

Lucy was dressed as Boyle, lesbian fringe jacket and all; the red-haired woman he didn’t recognize (and assumed was Bev) was dressed as Rosa and looking very characteristically annoyed; and Mina was in a hoodie and flannel, carrying a guitar and screaming, which could only mean she was Jake.

“You dressed up as Jake? Why do I find that so believable?” 

_ “But she is a female. Why would she dress up as a male?” _

_ Oh boy, buddy have you got a lot to learn. Next show we binge will be  _ RuPaul’s Drag Race _.  _

_ “Racing sounds boring…” _

"Because, like him, I am a big bi disaster who likes to scream while playing the guitar," she said, hitting him with a big grin and the finger-guns for good measure.

“Ha!” 

It took longer than it  _ probably _ should have, but, after getting things cleaned up and watching two more episodes of  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ , Eddie  _ did _ manage to get himself together enough and out the door—but not until he and Mina had hugged no less than three times and not until he’d promised to talk to her soon.

Okay, things had gone well. Venom hadn’t thrown a hissy fit, they had had good food, and gotten to watch their favorite show. All in all, he would consider this to be a success. 

When Eddie left, that sort of empty feeling settled over her apartment again. But it didn't last quite so long this time; mostly because she didn't have to shuffle around in the quiet cleaning by herself. The hugs had certainly helped things, too.

She got herself cleaned up before finally curling back up on the couch to talk to Lucy.

"Okay, spill. There was cuddling?"

Mina was laying down with her head against the armrest, goofy smile plastered on her face. "Yeah, we both fell asleep on the couch—after watching like five movies, by the way—, and I woke up literally on top of him. God, he was comfortable. And so fucking warm; I didn't even care about not having a blanket." She quirked a brow. "He didn't seem to mind much either."

"He  _ does _ look like a good cuddler," Lucy mused, and Mina could almost see her nodding to herself.

"We cooked breakfast together too, and he was here most of the morning just hanging out and watching TV with me. Just...god, it was... It was nice."

Lucy chuckled. "I'll say it again, sis; you're fucking smitten."

Mina chuckled back, fiddling with the fabric of her shirt between her fingers. "Yeah, maybe I am."

"God, you finally admit it."

"You wore me down," she said, smile still screwed on her face. She laughed again. "God, I can't stop smiling. I like him so much, Luce."

"It's what you deserve, Mina. Also, you better keep up that enthusiasm, because Bev has been dying to hear all about your exploits. ...Plus she says she misses you."

"Very much," called another voice from Lucy's side.

"So we're inviting you over for family dinner night. We haven't all been together in ages. You, me, Bev, Laurie..."

Mina raised a brow again. "So Jonathan's not invited?"

A beat of silence. "C'mon, even when we do invite him, he shows up late."

“If he shows up at all,” Bev added.

"Yeah, but...not that I desperately want him there, but if we don't invite him and he hears about it later from Laurie...?"

Lucy groaned. "Fine. Maybe he won't show up."

"Yeah, don't hold your breath. Look how well that worked out for me last time.” She was still reeling from Jonathan insinuating that Eddie was taking advantage of her “fragile emotional state”, god. “Anyway, I'm free pretty much every night, so you pick a day.”

"What, no hot date?"

Mina grinned. "Not yet, anyway."

"Well, just in case, you wanna make it easy and do tomorrow night? Be a stereotypical family for five seconds and have Sunday dinner?"

Bev let out a single, loud, sarcastic laugh from the other end of the phone, making Lucy and Mina laugh.

"Sure, sounds great. What time should I come over?"

"No, no, we'll send the car to pick you up."

Mina sighed. "Luce, I can just take a cab, seriously."

Bev spoke up again. "Mina, for god's sakes, let us use the town car on you once in a while!"

Mina sighed once more. "Fine," she said, drawing the word out like an immature whine. "Tell me a time and I'll be ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, FINALLY got another chapter up! my co-author and I have been working hard to keep a little cushion for ourselves of what we've written vs. what we've uploaded, and we finally got to that point again! I'll do my best to get another chapter up sometime before another month goes by. but this chapter is sort of going up at the perfect time? right before Valentine's Day? anyway, we think it's super cute, and we hope you enjoyed it! ^^


	12. Something Like Family Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated Valentine's Day! this is another chapter we've been super excited to write and post~ it's dedicated to this fic's number one fan, Leia (okayhotshot), as they helped us conceive a lot of the best dialogue in this chapter. love you so so much, bestie~
> 
> enjoy, everyone!

The town car arrived as promised outside of Mina’s building early the following evening. She and the driver reached for the handle to the back door at the same time, and she stepped back with an embarrassed chuckle. She'd never get used to someone being there to open her door for her like that. But then Bev and Lucy had access to some very nice perks.

The couple lived uptown in the penthouse of one of the priciest buildings in the city. Bev had come into their lives already accustomed to a certain standard of living, and she’d worked very hard to maintain that. Lucy had no such standard, of course, but she certainly never seemed to mind being the trophy wife of a very high-priced attorney. Of course, “trophy wife” was more of an inside joke than an accurate description of their marriage. Anyone who ever called Lucy that seriously, well… It could be said that they were very lucky to have survived one of Bev’s death-glares.

Mina always felt a little self-conscious showing up to their building in anything less than at least a dress shirt and nice pants. Not that she hadn’t done so before. Hell, she’d walked around the lobby in her pajamas more than once. And Lucy kept insisting that no one cared, but Mina knew they did; they just did so quietly. People didn’t live in a place like that and not care about appearances. Swarovski crystals hung from the chandeliers, for Christ’s sake. And there were doormen and elevator operators and private security. Might as well have been the Plaza Hotel. And she was supposed to believe that no one in the building would care if she rolled up in holey blue jeans and a paint-covered jacket? Maybe they didn’t, but she sure did.

She walked through the door as the doorman opened it for her, and gave a little wave to the front desk receptionist as she passed through the shiny lobby towards the elevators. She took it up to the top floor, which opened onto a hallway-slash-entryway that lead to the door of the penthouse. After tipping the elevator operator, she crossed the space and knocked on the door.

Lucy, smile bright as ever, opened it a moment later. “See, isn’t it nice to take the town car?”

Mina rolled her eyes and chuckled as she crossed the threshold. “Yeah, yeah, it’s nice, I guess.”

It had been years since Lucy had moved in, but Mina still felt a little stunned every time she saw the place. It was two stories, but it might as well have been a mansion, given what they had grown up with.

Lucy had designed the interior herself, of course, and Bev had told her to do whatever she wanted. So most of the place ran with the finest hardwood, but plush carpeting covered the floors in the lounge and the bedrooms. The furniture in the main rooms was all rococo-style—Lucy’s favorite—, and some of the painted walls were embossed with designs to match. Their bedroom was much the same, and she’d given each of the other three bedrooms their own sort of theme, all with corresponding furniture and paint colors—and matching bathrooms. _“Spared no expense,”_ as Bev often liked to say.

While some of the furnishings appeared retro or classic, all the appliances were state-of-the-art. The kitchen was big enough for a small catering company to work out of, and the dining room big enough to seat at least twenty-five, when necessary. There was a smaller dining area for their personal use, of course, as well as the lounge that was more secluded than the main living room (with attached balcony accessible through giant glass doors). Lucy and Bev had a shared office near their bedroom on the first floor, and the rest of the bedrooms and bathrooms—as well as another entertaining space and lounge area—were on the second floor.

Even though she'd been through the whole place hundreds of times, Mina still thought she might get lost and never be found in a place this big.

Occasionally, a big, fluffy white cat would pass through the rooms, surveying the newcomers who'd dared stray into her grand home. Outside of Lucy and Bev, Mina and Laurie seemed to be the only people she liked. Unfortunately. They could never wear black when they came over—not if they intended to sit down anywhere.

Bev was pacing in the smaller dining room, bluetooth headset in her ear, and file folders neatly arranged next to each other on the table.

Lucy leaned over to Mina and whispered, “She’s got a big case next week.”

“When doesn’t she,” Mina replied, but the smile on her face was a fond one. Bev was good at what she did; she couldn’t fault her for that.

The red-head caught sight of them in the doorway, cut herself off mid-sentence, and gave a quick smile. She was tall, even without heels, and wearing most of an impeccably tailored suit; its shade of navy perfectly complimented her light brown skin. The jacket was laid over the back of the chair she’d been pacing in front of.

“Listen, Harold, I have to go. ...Yes, my in-laws are here. You know how it is. I’ll call you tomorrow, yes? Goodnight.” She clicked a button on the earpiece and pulled it out, setting it on top of the files, before crossing the room and to pull Mina into a tight hug. “I would apologize for making you sound like a bother, my dear, but…”

“Hey, happy to be your excuse to stop working anytime you need it,” Mina replied, hugging her back.

When they leaned apart, Bev lifted up Mina’s cast-covered arm. “Ah, I finally get to see it in person,” she said, inspecting it. “They catch the guy?”

Mina shook her head. “Never got a look at his face, so it’s sort of a lost cause.”

Bev clicked her tongue. “Shame. Though he’ll surely get what’s coming to him. Bastard deserves all that and more.” She released her arm. “Healing okay?”

“So far, so good. I get it off next week, then I can finally get back to work.”

“You must be going out of your mind,” Bev said as she breezed past them towards the kitchen. “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to stop working for six weeks.”

Lucy chuckled and followed her. “She barely managed the three for our honeymoon.”

“Yes, but I did it all for you, my love,” she replied, and gave Lucy a kiss on the forehead when she stopped next to her. “Wine, Mina?”

“Just a small glass,” she replied, following after the couple.

There were plates of hot food already set on the counters in the kitchen. Looked like they'd be doing things buffet-style that evening.

Bev wasn’t even done pouring the four glasses of wine (Laurie would surely be arriving at any moment) when she said, “So, what’s this I hear about you seeing someone new?”

Mina leaned against the counter and gave Lucy a look.

Lucy just smiled back in response.

“Never do like to waste time, do you, Bev?”

“Why bother?” she replied with a grin, passing Mina a glass. “I can’t stand suspense, after all. So who are they?”

She glanced between the two. “C’mon, Lucy must have told you something.”

“She wanted to let you have the honor of most of the details. Apparently, she likes this one.”

Lucy grinned, and Mina gave a little eye-roll. “Alright, alright. He’s a reporter, and his name is Eddie Brock. We met after this happened,” she said, holding up her right arm, “and he took me to the hospital.”

Bev’s brow furrowed for a moment. “I know that name… Why do I know that name?”

“Life Foundation,” Lucy replied, then took a sip from her glass.

Bev snapped her fingers. “That’s it. Our firm almost got the case against Carlton Drake—the rocket failure and all that—, so I was pretty well-versed on it at one point. Brock’s name came up a couple times. That attempted interview of his is pretty infamous in some circles.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to know that,” Mina murmured over her glass. That attempted interview had pretty much ruined his life almost instantly, and for several months. He probably didn’t look on it as the shining moment others might have.

“How many dates have you been on?”

Mina had to think for a moment as she broke out of her thoughts. “Uh, four.”

“And you met him, what, four or five weeks ago?” She chuckled. “Mina, that’s practically a glacial pace for you.”

“Ha-ha,” Mina replied dryly.

Lucy piped up, “But he _did_ come to the gallery the other night.”

Bev’s eyes widened in interest. “Okay, the glacial pace certainly doesn’t apply to that. How’d it go?”

Mina got that fond little look on her face. “Well, he didn’t laugh, he didn’t call my aura thing ‘crazy’, and...he didn’t say anything when he saw the self-portraits. Just took my hand and really...I dunno, engaged with them. He also didn’t leer at Trevor’s portraits of me, so it was a win-win-win scenario. Hell, if Jonathan hadn’t shown up, it might’ve been a perfect night.”

Bev swallowed the sip of wine in her mouth. “Oh, god, what’d he do?”

“What he always does—take it as a personal offense that I started dating someone and didn’t tell him every detail right as it was happening.”

Bev shook her head. “Hasn’t he learned yet that that’s what you have Lucy for?”

Lucy looked so pleased.

Bev gave her a little conspiratorial smile. “How’d Eddie take it?”

Mina grinned. “Like a seasoned pro. Perfectly polite, but, oh god, he got under Jonathan’s skin so easily. It was great. Even kept an arm wrapped around me to rile him.”

“Good man,” Bev replied with a grin. “So, with how well the night went, did you fuck him afterwards?”

Mina nearly choked on her drink, coughing and sniffling. “Bev!”

She gave a half-shrug, as if Mina’s face wasn’t bright red as she fought off the burn of wine attempting to go up her nose. “It’s a fair question.”

Mina coughed again, then cleared her throat. “No, I didn’t. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

Bev made a face. “Does he _not_ see how hot you are? How can he stand to be in your presence and...not?”

“We’re taking it slow, that’s all. He got out of a long-term serious relationship less than a year ago, so he’s a little gun-shy, I think.” She gave a little shrug back. “Willing, but hesitant.”

Bev raised a brow. “Willing?”

Mina grinned now. “Well, he had at least one sex dream about me, so I figure I’ve got one foot in the door.”

“Hot,” Lucy said.

“Well, who hasn’t?” Bev said at the same time.

Mina and Lucy slowly turned their gazes to Bev, who was casually taking a drink of wine.

“Oh, calm down, you two, it was before we were married,” she said after the swallowed.

A knock at the door drew Lucy’s attention, and she set her glass down and went to answer it while Mina kept staring at Bev.

Bev just looked back at her and asked, “How’d you find out about his dream?”

“He told me.” She tilted her head. “Well, he started acting weird and his aura got all orange, so I asked him what was wrong. He said he had a dream about me, and I joked about if I was wearing clothes or not, and his face told me the rest.” She shrugged. “I told him I’ve had dreams about him too; it’s pretty normal.”

“What’s pretty normal?” Laurie asked as she came into the kitchen, trailed by Lucy. Laurie was a short woman with curly brown hair and a pear-shaped frame. She was every bit the definition of “homely”, but in the cutest and sweetest way possible. She was cozy, comforting, like your favorite school teacher always looked in your memories. And she immediately went over and gave Mina a big hug. “Good to see you, honey.”

Mina hugged her back and chuckled. “You’d think I’d had a brush with death or something, the way you all are acting.”

“You did,” Laurie replied.

“I think that’s being a little dramatic.”

“Not to us,” Lucy said as she passed Laurie a glass.

“You doing okay?” Laurie asked Mina.

Mina nodded. “Yeah, I get my cast off next week.”

“Thank goodness.” She looked at Bev. “Jonathan’s going to be late, by the way.”

“What else is new?” Mina said.

Laurie chuckled. “Anyway, what are we talking about?”

“Sex dreams,” Bev replied.

“Oh, good, I got here just in time.”

Bev nodded to Mina. “Her new guy had a sex dream about her.”

Mina gave her a look. “And we just discovered that apparently Bev has had one about me too.”

Bev just gave another shrug. “I cannot be blamed here; I’m far too gay for that.”

Lucy grinned. “As the only straight woman in the room, Laurie, where do you weigh in on this?”

Laurie tilted her head from side to side, thinking. “Mina is definitely my ‘if I had to pick a girl’.”

“Oh, stop, y’all are making me blush,” Mina said dryly, and took a long drink as the other three laughed.

Laurie swallowed a sip of wine as Lucy passed around plates to everyone. “Come to think of it, Jonathan mentioned something about you seeing a new guy.”

“Oh, that doesn’t surprise me. What’d he say about him?”

“That he was annoying, rude, and had his hands all over you all night.”

“That doesn’t surprise me either. Any guy looks at me, and Jonathan thinks that about them.”

Laurie smiled. “Which is exactly why I didn’t listen.” She slid closer to Mina, looking at her eagerly. “Tell me all about him.”

Mina recounted the same events she’d told Bev as they plated their food and slowly migrated to the dining room. She carried on, chatting and answering (most of) their questions while the rest of them ate. By the time she finished, she was on her second glass of wine and had only taken a few bites of food, while the rest of them were more than half-finished with their dinner. Oops.

She finished her retelling by pulling up a picture she had on her phone to show Laurie what Eddie looked like.

She blew out an appreciative breath. “Very cute. God, his lips...”

“I know,” Mina said, letting out an airy laugh.

“Lips that Mina hasn’t kissed,” Bev said over the lip of her wine glass.

“ _Yet_ ,” Mina emphasized. “That I haven’t kissed _yet_.”

Laurie raised a brow. “Well, aside from that and the...obvious signs, I have to assume it’s going well, because Jonathan said you told him that he spent the night after your second date…?”

Lucy and Mina locked eyes and burst out laughing, and Bev stared at her. “I thought you said you hadn’t fucked him yet!” She sounded so betrayed at the idea that Mina would lie to her about this.

The sisters laughed harder, and Mina waved her good hand, shaking her head. “He _did_ spend the night, but—and Laurie you’re sworn to secrecy—, he just slept on the couch. We’d both been drinking, and I told him he was either going to be taking a cab or sleeping over. He picked the couch. I still haven’t kissed him, and I still haven’t slept with him.”

Laurie laughed. “Oh, god, Jonathan came home looking like you’d beat him up behind the gallery.”

“Mission accomplished,” she replied with a grin.

"And Eddie spent the night again last night,” Lucy said with a big grin.

Bev stared at Mina. “And _still_ nothing?"

Mina just shrugged, smiling. “I’m patient, I don’t mind.”

Lucy leaned her elbows on the table, chin in her hands. “Tell them what he drives, sis.”

Mina felt her cheeks getting warm, but she smiled wide. “Drives a motorcycle.”

Bev raised her arms over her head in disbelief. “I ask again, _why_ haven’t you fucked him yet?”

“You’re awfully invested in this, Bev,” Mina said with a raised brow.

“You deserve good things, Mina!” Bev got sappy and passionate after a couple glasses of wine. Prim and neat and orderly she was—but also a lightweight. There was a good reason there was no hard liquor in their home.

“Oh, I deserve good things, Bev?” Mina teased.

“Yes, good things! Like getting dicked down by the guy who likes you!”

They all laughed at that; maybe the wine wasn’t just getting to Bev.

“Well, if nothing else, I get to ride his motorcycle after I get my cast off. He’s giving me a ride home from the hospital.”

Bev leaned closer, looking at her earnestly. “Yes, good. Ride his motorcycle…” She pointed at her. “...and then ride _him_.”

That did it; they started howling, Mina practically sliding off her seat and under the table.

“I’m not kidding!” Bev said after a gulp to finish her third glass. Then she reached towards Mina, palm facing up. “Call him right now, I’ll tell him for you! He needs to fuck you!”

Mina let out a loud laugh and put her flushed face in her hands. “Bev, are we in high school?!”

“No, we’re adults," she said, voice even once again. "And I am going to call him and, like an adult, calmly tell him that he needs to make sweet, sweet love to you for hours on end before you both combust.”

Lucy was screeching, and Laurie had her head pressed down against the table, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

“No, you will not!” Mina replied, still laughing. “And I’ll now be watching my phone like a hawk. You’re not drunk-dialing the guy I’m dating.”

“No, listen, he has to listen to me.” She took her hand back, gesturing to herself now. “I’m a lesbian. I know best. It’s science. He’ll understand.”

“You’re drunk.”

“And you deserve to have sex with him!” Bev’s determined expression collapsed as she burst out laughing with the rest of them.

Mina caught her breath long enough to say, “Well, I gotta take baby steps. I’ve still gotta kiss him first.”

“That’s fair,” Laurie said, pushing her hair out of her face as she sat back up.

“So then you have a game plan?” Bev asked.

“Bev, that’s just sort of the natural progression of things! I don’t have a ‘game plan’.”

“Then I’ll make one for you.” She held up her hand, ticking things off on her fingers. “Okay, you’ve gone on dates, you’ve held hands, you’ve hugged…” She blinked hard; her third glass of wine was hitting her. “What’s next?”

“Kissing, darling,” Lucy replied.

“Kissing, right,” Bev said with a serious nod. “Then sex. There, just do that.”

Mina opened her mouth to reply, but Laurie spoke first. “Well, I mean, she’d probably do makeout sessions before that, and then...I dunno, maybe suck his dick?”

“Oh my god,” Mina mumbled, face in her hands again.

Bev’s eyes widened as she smiled. “Laurie, you’re a genius. So kiss, makeout, then all you gotta do is suck his dick, and you’re set!”

Mina shook her head, still covering her face. “I am not hearing this right now.” Somehow, them putting it like that made it sound so much worse.

“Mina, you gotta suck his dick!” Bev stood from her chair and slammed her fists down on the table. “Suck his dick!”

“Bev—”

She wasn’t listening, and started chanting as she beat her fists on the table. “Suck his dick! Suck his dick! Suck his dick!”

Mina still had her head in her hands, Lucy and Laurie were cackling, and Bev was still chanting when their missing dinner guest walked through the door. All four women stopped and looked up when they realized he was standing in the dining room doorway, and then collapsed into hysterical laughter once again.

Lucy was the first to catch her breath, and she shook her head at Jonathan and said, “It’s your own fault for being late; the conversation would _not_ have wound up here if you’d been around.”

He sighed. “There was traffic.”

“It’s still your fault,” Lucy replied.

Jonathan moved closer to kiss the side of Laurie's head. "I shouldn't even ask this, but..."

"Yes, we were talking about Eddie," Laurie responded before he could finish.

He raised a brow, nodding. "So she told you about him."

"Yes, and he sounds very nice. I'm looking forward to meeting him," she said, giving him a pointed look.

Whether because of the alcohol the women had already downed or because it was the first time they'd all been together in months, Jonathan decided not to pick at Mina that evening. So much the better; she was in a good mood and probably would've walked out if he'd tried anything. She hated doing that to the rest of them, of course, but she'd rather leave than listen to another of his tirades again so soon.

He kept his mouth shut for the most part when he wasn't eating, but his presence did seem to calm the conversation a bit. Words still slurred here and there, and Bev still spoke too loud sometimes, but they managed to steer the topic away from Mina potentially having sex with Eddie sometime soon.

Bev couldn't talk much about her upcoming case, Jonathan couldn't talk about his patients, and Mina had no work to speak of for the last six weeks, but Lucy and Laurie went back and forth for a bit talking about Lucy's clients. The gripes she heard as a personal decorator and shopper... You'd think people who could afford to have someone do all these things for them wouldn't complain so much, but people continued to test the limits of their understanding.

Like Lucy, Laurie also lived a bit vicariously through the family; as a private tutor, the most exciting things that happened to her were when a kid discovered writing implements could be thrown rather than just held. She loved hearing all their stories, and knew all the right times to nod and hum and give short yet sympathetic responses. Having been married to Jonathan for so long, she'd practically turned it into an art form.

They all wound up staying a little later than intended, but that could be blamed on Lucy breaking out the ice cream to keep them in their seats. They might've even stayed the night, if ten o’clock hadn’t rolled around and the very sober Jonathan hadn't corralled Mina and Laurie to carefully herd them towards the door. Even he could only stand so much family time at once, especially when drinking was involved. Mina and Laurie didn’t (or couldn’t) put up much of a fight about it, and, besides, the wine and ice cream were gone anyway.

"C'mon, Mina, we'll drop you off at home."

She leaned against his shoulder as they moved through the lobby, arms linked. "I can take a cab," she replied; any insistence in her voice was undercut by the slight slur of her words.

"Noooo, you're not taking a cab in your—" Laurie hiccuped. "—condition, Mina. Not after what you've been through."

"You kidding?" She raised her right arm. "This is a blunt-force weapon. I can take anybody."

"Sure you can, slugger," Jonathan replied as they stepped outside, and he turned them all towards the parking garage.

Mina tried to glare at him, but it was a little hard to focus in the low light. "You underestimate me, J-Jonathan."

He rolled his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from making some smart remark.

When they reached the car, Mina slid into the backseat and laid down.

"No, no, sit up. You're not getting sick in the back of my car," Jonathan said.

She waved a hand at him. "I haven't thrown up alcohol in, like, years, dude. Left that behind in—in fucking college." She did sit up, though, and focused on buckling up. "Besides, it was wine, not shots."

Laurie hiccuped again in the passenger seat. "Oh, no, never shots. I think we'd die."

"Speak for yourself," Mina said with a chuckle.

Jonathan drove carefully away from the building, and back downtown towards Mina's apartment. She thought he'd just walk her to the front door, but he got her all the way back up to her place. Surprising.

"Make sure to call Lucy," he said, hanging up her jacket by the door. "She worries."

"I know, I know." Then she took a deep breath and looked at him, arms folded across her chest. "Do you really not like Eddie?"

He looked at her, surprised, studying her face. Then he gave a deflating sigh. "I don't know. I just worry, Mina."

"I know you do. But I think you might like him, if you give him a chance.” Eddie was pretty likeable, after all. It just seemed like a lot of people didn’t want to give him the chance to prove that he was. Their loss, as far as she was concerned.

Jonathan just shifted his weight where he stood, uncomfortable.

She gave a little sigh. “You shouldn’t worry so much. I can handle myself, Jonathan. I'm not going to let it happen again."

He gave a half-smile that didn't come close to reaching his eyes. But his tone was sincere when he said, "I know you won't. And I know you like him, just... Be careful, okay?"

"Always." It was the best response she could hope for right then. She gave his shoulder a pat as she moved past him. "Text when you get home. Even if I won't see it tonight. _I_ worry, too, you know."

He chuckled. "Right. Night, Mina."

"Night."

After he left, Mina shuffled herself into her room. Angel and O'Brien watched her from their beds, but didn't seem inclined to get up and follow her. Yet.

She managed to get out of her pants and get her bra off through the neck of her shirt before collapsing on her back on her bed. The ceiling spun slowly above her, and no amount of hard blinks could quite stop it.

Instead of more failed attempts to stop it, she fumbled for her phone and raised the bright screen in front of her face to try to call Lucy. "Okay, you can do this," she mumbled to herself. "Just one phone call and then you can sleep." Her list of favorite contacts swam a little, and she tapped the one that she was pretty sure said "Lucy" and pressed the phone to her ear as it rang.

The phone rang a total of three times before the line went live.

“Hello?”

That was decidedly _not_ Lucy’s voice. It was, however, a familiar voice. A very familiar voice. A pleasantly familiar voice.

“Mina?” Eddie asked quietly.

"Eddie?" She blinked, then moved the phone to look at the screen. Now that text was bigger, she could see indeed that it didn't say "Lucy". Oops. "Oh, you are very much not Lucy," she said, rubbing at her eyes. "Sorry, Eddie, I hope I didn't wake you up or anything."

“Nah, no, I was awake,” Eddie reassured. “You okay?” he asked, concern evident in his voice. “You sound a little, ehhh...out of it.” He chuckled.

She chuckled back. "Yeah, full disclosure, I got a _liiiiiittle_ drunk at Lucy's." She raised her hand up, holding her pointer finger and thumb up so they were almost touching. "Just a little. I'm home now, though." She smiled. "I've noticed how you worry."

“Ah, got me,” he said with a smile. “But I’m glad that you’re home safe. Otherwise, I would have had to come out and get you.” His smile widened a little as he spoke.

She hummed, chuckling again. "Would you really have? That's sweet. You're sweet, Eddie."

“Yes. Absolutely. Of course I would have,” he assured. “In a heartbeat. I’ve just been at home, so...” Not entirely true. But he _was_ sober, and could definitely have come to her rescue, if he’d needed to.

“Good,” she said with a lopsided smile. “‘Cause I'm not really interested in anyone else coming to my rescue at this point in time, Eddie.”

“Really? Well, I suppose I could be at least a part-time rescuer,” he said with a chuckle. “So, I… I should let you go, so you can call your sister.”

"Before you do," she said, leaning into the buzz still swimming through her mind, "can I tell you something?"

A pause. “Yeah, sure, of course. What is it?”

She took a breath. Okay, maybe her head was swimming more than she wanted it to. "I-I know I say this a lot, but...I really like you, Eddie. You're just...so good and funny and sweet and— I mean, god, you're, like, stupidly attractive, Eddie, I hope you know that. But, anyway, my point is I really like spending time with you. Especially just watching movies and stuff like we did when you were here the other night and yesterday, I... I kinda just wanna hang out, like, all the time. It's nice. And fun." She chuckled once. "Our dates, official or not, have been some of the best times I've had in...quite a while. And I'm... I'm really glad I met you. Even if the initial circumstances were...less than desirable..." She smiled a little wider. "...I can't say I have complaints about the end results." She gave a quiet sigh. "Also, fair warning, I'm probably going to repeat all this whenever the thoughts cross my mind. Just...with less slurring, probably." She gave a little shrug, still smiling. "Just...wanted to let you know."

He chuckled, the sound warm and light against her ear. That was sweet, and admittedly made Eddie blush a little. It had been a long time since someone—well, another human—had wanted to just spend time with him. A long time since... Well, actually, no one had ever really been like that. Sure he and Annie had been close, and had enjoyed each other’s company, but this was different. This was a different sort of company, and a different sort of enjoyment.

It wasn’t better, just different, and he liked that.

“Well, you know what?” His felt his heart beat a little faster. “I feel the same way.” He decided to take a gamble. She was drunk; she wouldn’t remember this, surely. “I really look forward to our dates. Official or otherwise. They’re...really a highlight of my day. Week. Whatever.” He didn’t say “life”, because that was ridiculous.

She smiled wide, pink face darkening a little. "Really? Aw, that makes me happy." She'd almost said their dates were the best time of her life, too; funny, that. "Spending time with you makes me happy."

“Yeah, it, uh… It makes me happy too.” He smiled. “Now, why don’t you call your sister then hit the sack?” he said warmly. “Drink a glass of water, too. Try and avoid the likely awful hangover you’re bound to have in the morning,” he chuckled.

"I should definitely do all of that," she said, scrunching up her nose as she chuckled again. "Yes, sir. You get some sleep soon too, okay? And I will see you—" She pointed towards the ceiling, as if Eddie was actually in front of her. "—and your motorcycle in a few days, Eddie."

He gave another soft laugh. “Yeah. Definitely. See you then. Sleep well, Mina,” he said fondly. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Eddie.”

He waited a beat or two, and then the line went silent.

Mina lay there for a little bit, just smiling and chuckling to herself. "I think he's a keeper," she mumbled.

She then tried again to call Lucy. This time, she got Laurie's voicemail. She finally got Lucy on the third try. She didn't pick up, presumably because Mina was the only one of them that was still awake, but she left a quick message that she was home safe, and that she hadn't called earlier because she'd accidentally called Eddie instead. That'd probably earn her some teasing in the morning, but that was for post-drunk Mina to worry about.

She carefully got herself back into an upright and standing position, taking a couple seconds to steady herself, and took Eddie's advice of getting some much-needed water. She downed half a bottle and took the rest with her before curling back up in bed. A pleasantly warm weight had settled over her heart, and she was fairly certain it had nothing to do with the alcohol.

She woke the next morning to traces of what felt like a hangover. Damn, if wine was starting to get to her that much, maybe it was time to officially swear off hard liquor for the rest of her life; it might kill her otherwise.

She downed the rest the water bottle on her nightstand, then went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She spent at least a full minute trying to hunt down her sweatpants so she could take her very patient dogs downstairs. She was finally successful in both, and it wasn't until they returned that what she'd done last night suddenly leapt to the front of her mind.

Oh god. She'd drunk-dialed Eddie. Purely by accident, yes, but she'd still done it. She wanted to be embarrassed, but mostly she was just...not surprised, but disappointed. She thought she'd outgrown that ages ago.

Her dogs ran past her towards their breakfast while she went back to her room to get her phone. She'd slept in, so it was likely he was already awake. An apology was probably necessary, whether she was embarrassed about it or not. God, how she'd veritably gushed about how much she liked him... It was all true, of course, but it had probably sounded a little ridiculous coming out of her drunken mouth.

She opened up her contacts and successfully dialed him on the first try. While the phone was ringing, she just as suddenly remembered the other half of the conversation—his half. She couldn't quite stop her mouth from falling open. Had he gushed right back at her? God, that was cute.

The phone rang, and rang, and then went to voicemail.

_“Hey, this is Eddie Brock, if you don’t know what to do, well—" Beep._

There was hardly a beat before she started talking. "So, this was meant to be an apology call about drunk-dialing you last night, but now it's kind of become a call about how sweet all that you said last night was. Since I just remembered it while your phone was ringing," she said with a soft laugh. "And I am sorry for calling you while low-key wasted on white wine, but...I'm also not really sorry, all things considered.” She paused for just a second. “Anyway, yeah, you're adorable. But then I hope you already knew that. Also, you are dangerously close to getting my permission to come hang out at my apartment whenever you want, Eddie. Better watch yourself," she teased. "Hope your day goes well. Go catch lots of bad guys and all that. I'm staying in, so I probably won't need rescuing today, but then you never know with me, right? Anyway, I'll talk to you later." Then she blinked. "Oh, this is Mina, by the way. Okay, bye."

She set her phone down and put her chin in her hand, looking out the window at the mid-morning sunshine. Then she chuckled again. "God help me."

When Eddie got Mina’s voicemail, he may have fallen into a subtle panic. If locking himself in his apartment for two days could be considered "subtle".

Venom made sure that he ate and drank. He wrapped him in a blanket and put on Netflix. He didn’t think that the message was really worth freaking out about, but then he supposed he didn’t fully understand human embarrassment.

Eddie had done a gutsy thing—for him, anyway—, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about the outcome yet besides embarrassed. Sure, he really did feel that way, and he didn't regret saying it, per se... Yet, still, whenever he thought about what he said or he replayed her voicemail, his face would flush again and he'd groan to himself and retreat further under the blanket Venom had laid over him.

By the second afternoon of this, Venom finally emerged and asked, _"Am I misunderstanding something? Her message wasn't angry."_ If there was any emotion Venom understood very well... _"She sounded the same as she ever does."_ Annoying, yet singing Eddie's praises. Again, he couldn't quite fault her for her preferences in human partners, if she was so set on liking Eddie.

“I didn’t think that she would remember...” Eddie said quietly from under the blanket. “She was so drunk, and...I thought she would forget.”

Venom tilted their head. _“But why would you want that? I thought this whole weird dating thing was based on mutual complimenting and enjoying each other’s company or...something.”_

"It is," he replied. "More or less. It's just..." He pulled the blanket back and rubbed at his eyes with a groan. "Look, it's been a long time since I've done this—any of this. And I guess it's just taking some time to adjust to talking to her like that."

Venom was quiet for a moment. _"You mean talking to someone else like that?"_ They were sure they didn't need to elaborate on who the other nameless person was.

Eddie leaned his head against the arm of the sofa, pulling the blanket tight around his shoulders and back over his head. “Yeah.”

Venom gave their version of a sigh and settled down to rest on Eddie's chest—not unlike a cat curling up on him. They didn't like Mina—or rather what Mina represented—and they couldn't quite understand what Eddie was feeling, but...

 _"But you_ do _feel that way for her,"_ they replied. _"And she feels that way, too."_ If her words were to be believed. _"That should bring you some comfort, even if you are...out of practice in this area."_

“I guess...” He rested a hand against some part of Venom; he couldn’t really call it a neck. The inky black ooze pressed into his fingers. He found he liked the weight and warmth of Venom’s head on his chest. “It’s just...hard sometimes for humans to cope with their feelings. And, if we don’t sort them out, sometimes we... We make stupid, impulsive decisions.” And Eddie was definitely known for those.

Venom hummed, the sensation rumbling through Eddie's chest and along his hand. They supposed that made some sort of sense, but humans could be so needlessly complex about simple situations. It was a wonder Venom had decided to stick around this long with such an absolute disaster of a person.

Eddie had given up on reclaiming Anne. Eddie liked the new Mina human. The Mina human liked Eddie. They expressed this to each other to a near-sickening degree. To them, the solution seemed simple: keep expressing the honest emotions and let her respond in kind until one decided they were bored of the other and they parted ways—or however it was most human relationships ended. He only had Eddie's past ones as a frame of reference, after all.

 _"Is it still stupid if the end result is positive?"_ they asked.

“Love is always stupid, buddy. Blind. Dumb. It’s humanity’s most coveted thing, but it... It’s our weakness.” He made a skritching motion with his fingers unthinkingly, gently scratching at Venom. “But we want it. We need it. We can’t live without it.”

Venom pushed up against his hand a little—fondly, not to push him away. _"Then it would seem humans have... What is the phrase? Painted themselves into a corner?"_

Eddie gave a quiet sigh. “Most definitely, buddy. Most definitely.”


	13. Things Have Changed

Eddie spent the days leading up to Mina getting her cast off at home, with Venom, just...relaxing. Really, he had spent most of it stressing, but Venom had helped him _try_ to relax. And it sort of worked.

He knew that he was probably overreacting—over thinking the _whole_ scenario. He'd been known to do so before, after all. Odds were, when he saw Mina at the hospital, he'd calm down a bit. Well, as calm as he ever seemed to be around her.

The day of her appointment finally came, and Mina jumped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. Finally, finally, she'd be rid of it! In just a few hours, she'd have proper use of both her hands back! And she'd be getting to ride on Eddie's motorcycle afterwards. She had everything to look forward to—except for having to be in the hospital again.

She tried to let her excitement for everything else overtake that bit of anxiety, but it didn't entirely work. Even when she was going for a good reason, she still hated having to go at all. At least Eddie would be there with her, holding her hand, as he’d promised.

When her cab arrived, she sent a quick text to Eddie to tell him she was heading out. He'd been pretty scarce over the last several days, but she just chalked that up to him being busy with work. Either way, she'd be seeing him shortly, so it didn’t really matter.

Eddie pocketed his phone after replying to Mina’s message and picked up his keys. “Alright, let’s go.”

 _“Will we get to see Dan?”_ Venom asked.

“Yeah, buddy,” he replied with a grin, pulling his jacket on. “We’ll definitely see Dan.” Dan was Mina’s doctor, so of course he would be there when she got the cast off—mostly because he had also promised to be.

 _“Good,”_ Venom said, sounding far too satisfied about that.

Eddie grabbed the helmet that he had bought for Mina—which he’d gotten shortly after the thought had initially occurred to him that, oh yeah, she’d need one, wouldn’t she?—before leaving his apartment. A budding eagerness had settled into his stomach as he set off for the hospital.

She was waiting for him where they'd planned to meet up—the same entrance they'd used the night they'd met. She was plenty early for her appointment, and was doing her best not to chew on her thumb as she tried to calm her nerves. That hospital-related anxiety seemed especially persistent that day. Her nerves certainly started to calm, though, when she heard the already-familiar sound of a certain motorcycle rumbling nearby.

Eddie parked and quickly found Mina. He smiled as he approached. “Hey, you ready to have that thing off your arm? Your sentence is finally over.” He grinned, and held up the helmet he’d brought for her.

"I am so ready," she replied, beaming at him and the helmet. "And you're actually getting me excited to walk into a hospital, which is a monumental feat." She took his free hand, interlacing their fingers. "But I'm still gonna need this to hold onto, if it's all the same to you." There was a teasing lilt to her voice, but a flicker of apprehension behind her eyes.

He gladly gave her hand a squeeze. “Of course. Absolutely.” That wasn’t a problem, especially because Venom was in a decent mood on account of getting to see Dan.

He lead her into the hospital—white and bright and smelling of over-sterilization. The smell was always the worst of it for her, she'd come to realize. Logically, a hospital had to be overly clean and smell like antiseptic. Still…

He would’ve agreed that the smell was definitely the baseline worst of being inside a hospital. It always seemed to burn the inside of his nose, and he was sure that he would be sneezing, even hours after he left.

She kept a hold of Eddie's hand as they approached the nurses' station and she gave her name. They were lead to an exam room down a hall and around a corner to wait for Dan. Thank god they weren't waiting long, or Mina thought her heart might burst out of her chest from stress. Not to mention her grip on Eddie's hand had tightened more than a bit since they'd entered.

"Good morning, Mina," Dan said as he entered, giving her a polite but warm smile. "Good to see you again. Hey, Eddie." He cast a quick glance at their hands, trying not to smile wider. "You ready to get that thing off your arm, Mina?"

"Hell yes I am," she replied, giving him a polite smile back.

Eddie stood and kept hold of her good hand. He could hardly blame her nerves; it was alarming when someone came at you with a medical saw, no matter the circumstance.

She'd had casts off before, but the sound of the saw always put her on-edge—or _more_ on-edge. Whatever the calming white noise of a tattoo gun did for her, the buzz of a medical saw did the exact opposite.

She squeezed Eddie's hand tight and looked at him instead of at Dan and the nurse working on her other arm that she was focusing on keeping still. "I can't look at myself when I get tattooed either," she tried to joke, chuckling weakly.

“Yeah, no, me either,” he replied with a smile. He almost always kept his tattoos covered up—professionalism, for what that was worth. Which was jack-shit basically. But, he could imagine that, in her line of work, tattoos weren’t nearly as big of a deal. In fact, they almost seemed expected for someone like her. Besides which, they suited her. At least, the ones he’d seen—in person or otherwise.

He tried not to linger on that for too long as he looked down at their hands for a few seconds. He gave her hand another squeeze, then looked past her to watch for her as they removed the cast.

“And...there we go.” Dan carefully pulled the cracked cast off exposing the pale clammy skin of Mina’s arm. As usual, there was a subtle smell.

She looked back now, carefully closing her hand into a loose fist and stretching her fingers out again.

"Good?" Dan asked with a smile.

She nodded and smiled back. "So good, thank you."

He did a brief cursory exam of her now-exposed arm before the nurse swiped it over with alcohol-soaked gauze. At least it wouldn't smell like it hadn't been washed in six weeks now—which of course it hadn't.

"Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to do anything too strenuous for a little while until you build your strength back up."

She was looking at her hand again, but nodded. "Of course." She could feel Eddie looking at her; he knew how badly she wanted to get back to work.

“Painting shouldn’t be _too_ strenuous, right?” he asked, looking up at Dan. “I mean, so long as she doesn’t push herself past her limits, that sort of thing.” He knew that painting wasn’t exactly easy with only one hand, even if her dominant hand had been okay.

Dan thought about that for a second. "I'd say with breaks and plenty of stretches, you'd be fine."

Mina smiled, trying not to let it turn into a full-on beam. "I’ve already gotten into the habit of stopping to stretch my hands anyway, so I promise I'll do just that, Dan. Er, Doctor." Eddie calling him "Dr. Dan" suddenly made sense to her.

He chuckled. "It's okay. But, yeah, you're all set. You just have to sign a couple forms before you go, and then you're out of here."

 _Motorcycle time,_ she thought to herself, hopping down out of the exam seat. The nurse directed Mina towards the door, and she gave Eddie a wink as she passed.

Dan laughed softly at the look on Eddie's face. "So, how's it going? With her?" he asked once Mina and the nurse had left the room and before Eddie could move to follow after them.

He paused and blinked, glancing between the door and Dan. He nodded and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, uh, it’s, uh, y’know, going pretty good. I mean, uh...”

Dan chuckled again as he moved closer. "If you can still barely talk about it, that must be the case." He gave Eddie's shoulder a pat before opening the door for them.

 _“You’re an awkward mess, Eddie.”_

_Shut the fuck up._ He sighed as he rounded out into the hallway. He found Mina at the checkout desk and stood with her, waiting while she signed the paperwork. He noticed how slowly and carefully she was doing it. Writing her full first name was probably arduous enough without having to work her freshly-healed wrist. Maybe that was why all the art he’d seen of hers was simply signed with her initials. She’d spend weeks or months on a piece; getting it done a little faster by forgoing writing “Wilhelmina” was probably the the least of a favor she could do for herself at that point.

When she was through signing the papers—god, it felt good to be able to write more legibly again—, she turned to Eddie with a big smile and held her hands out to take the helmet from him. "Okay, let's fuckin' do this thing."

Dan grinned as Eddie handed her the helmet. "So you finally get to ride the bike, huh?"

"Indeed I do," she replied with a grin of her own. It had been a very long six weeks, for more reasons than one, and finally she was going to get to celebrate being free of that damn cast in the best way she could currently think of.

 _“Everyone likes the bike,”_ Venom said proudly.

Eddie smiled at her. _Yeah, they do._

They said their goodbyes to Dan, and headed out to the parking lot where Eddie was parked. He mounted, and kicked the motorcycle to life.

“You ready for this?” he asked, glancing at her with a grin as he waited for her to get on.

"Oh, I was born ready," she replied with a big smile as her stomach did somersaults. She shifted the helmet in her hands. "And, Eddie?"

He looked at her again.

"You have my full permission to take the long way back." Her smile widened as she slid the helmet onto her head, and then slid herself onto the seat behind him.

He grinned wider as well, and, once she was seated and her arms wrapped snugly around him, kicked up the stand and pulled out.

The low rumble of the bike only grew louder once they pulled out on the street proper and could pick up some speed. He was cautious—always was when driving with someone else. Venom could protect and fix him, but Mina didn’t have that same luxury.

Meanwhile, Mina was just grateful the helmet was hiding most of her face, because the amount of gleeful smiling she was doing should've been embarrassing. It was even better than she'd been imagining it—the rumble under her, the little whirl her stomach did when they went up or down a hill a little faster than expected, the quick glimpses of the bay at the tops of hills, and her arms around him as he wove the bike through the city. It reminded her of the exhilaration of riding roller coasters—but better.

It made her daydream a little about him just going out of the city completely, the two of them riding down the coast and not stopping until long after the sun would set. And then getting up the next day and do it all over again.

Of course, it also made her wish they’d get stopped next to Jonathan at a red light just so she could flip him off. Either scenario would be acceptable, but, for now, she was content with the realization that Eddie seemed happy to just keep on going.

Eddie had always loved riding motorcycles; it was freeing. He loved the roar of the bikes, loved the power vibrating through his bones. It was so unlike driving a car, even a powerful one. He’d known for years that, if he could at all help it, he’d never go back to driving anything else.

And, luckily, it seemed Mina wasn’t minding the long ride at all. Matter of fact, she seemed so comfortable that her grip on him started to relax the longer the ride lasted. Now, it was less like she was gripping onto him for safety’s sake and more like she was holding him purely because she wanted to. ...Granted, it was probably a little of both, but it made him smile to himself either way.

He more than took the long way back to Mina’s—even took a few back roads so they had to do a few extra loops back around. Suddenly, all the one-way streets weren’t so frustrating. He wasn’t in any hurry to get her home.

It made her wonder after a while if he was just going to conveniently "forget" to take her home. She wouldn't have minded at all; it wasn't like she had anywhere to be.

But, finally, in the early evening, they rumbled to a stop along the curb outside her building. Mina didn't let go of him until he'd cut the engine and balanced the bike on its stand. Her heart was still thrumming in her chest as she took off the helmet and ruffled her hair a little. "Okay, that was easily the coolest thing I've done in a very long time." She wrapped her free arm around his middle again and gave him a squeeze. "Entirely worth the wait," she said against his shoulder.

He smiled, glancing back at her. “Yeah, I never get tired of it.” He let her climb off first before he dismounted and they stood on the curb together. “Honestly, it’s the only way to travel.” And, fortunately, the noise of the bike didn’t seem to bother the symbiote—a major bonus.

"You are definitely winning me over to that," she said, corners of her nose scrunching as she smiled.

“Good,” he replied, then took her hand as they went up the steps of her building.

They took the stairs up to her apartment slowly, one at a time, side by side—which a considerably tight squeeze. Eddie might not have been a tall man, or even an overly broad man, but he was still larger than she was and the stairwell was narrow.

Not that they exactly minded walking basically shoulder-to-shoulder, knuckles brushing and fingers reaching to lightly grip at the other's. And they still made it to the landing outside her door in one piece.

She turned and looked up at him, her back to her door. "Thank you very much for the ride home," she said, smile still firmly in place. "I can't wait for the next one." She held the helmet up, as if expecting him to take it from her.

He glanced at the helmet then back at her. “Oh, no, that’s yours. I bought that for you,” he said, putting his hands up in front of him. “You hang onto that.”

She blinked at him, genuinely surprised. "R-Really?" She shifted the helmet in her hands, holding it almost more fondly at the realization. "Thank you, I..." She let it swing down by her side as she smiled up at him, face a little more pink now than before. "Thanks, Eddie."

His smile was soft, fond. “Yeah, not a problem,” he said, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. If he had had a helmet, he wouldn’t have had to buy one, but... Eh, he probably would have, regardless. This helmet just seemed to suit her. And it was a light enough off-white/cream color that he figured, if she wanted to paint it or otherwise decorate it, then she could. It just seemed like something she’d do.

“Hopefully, you’ll get some more use out of it.” He let his hand drop from his neck. It hovered between them a little—not quite reaching for her, but the thought was there. “Well, happy painting. I hope that you get your strength back.”

He leaned in without thinking, and quite suddenly pressed his lips to hers. It was nothing but a chaste kiss—a peck on the lips, really—, but he felt his chest tighten and his heart skip a beat, before it started beating altogether too quickly.

Her eyes widened, her own heart beating wildly in her chest. Simple as it was, it was as if the kiss had pulled all the air out of her lungs with how almost...casual and familiar it felt—like he always gave her a peck goodbye before he left, rather than this being their first one. It was altogether surprising, but...nice surprising.

All she could do for a second was look up at him. Then, slowly, she reached her hand up to his face, thumb lightly brushing his cheekbone as she searched his expression, before leaning up to kiss him herself. It was a slower, more lingering kiss, but still gentle, testing. Like they might finally be slowly wading into the metaphorical pool they'd been sitting on the edge of. The shallow end, perhaps, but in the water all the same.

He pressed back just as carefully into the kiss—almost like he’d suddenly forgotten how this sort of thing was supposed to go. His hand still hovered between them, unsure of if he should hold her or touch her… Finally, he settled on brushing his fingers up her arm. He was _almost_ entirely unaware that his touch was causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.

Their faces were still close together when they leaned apart, both of them feeling just a little warmer than they had before.

Eddie’s cheeks were more than a little pink, and his insides squirmed—and he was certain that it wasn’t because of Venom.

She couldn't help an airy chuckle as her hand shifted from his warm cheek to his shoulder. "That was also...entirely worth the wait," she said, almost whispering because of how breathless she felt.

He smiled awkwardly at her, blood rushing in his ears. He glanced down between them before he replied. “Sorry, I probably should’ve asked first, but... It was nice. I’ve, uh, wanted to do that for awhile,” he admitted—quietly, like he was telling her a secret.

“It’s okay.” She took his hand in hers for extra reassurance. “And I’m glad you did it, because holding back from doing it myself nearly killed me,” she said with another airy chuckle.

“Oh, yeah?” He couldn’t contain his grin. “Well, I’m glad that it didn’t end up killing you, otherwise I never would have gotten to kiss you.”

He fully expected Venom to make some smart remark about what a shame that would’ve been, but they were surprisingly quiet at that moment.

She felt her heart make a movement that could only be described as a _whoosh_ as she laughed out of sheer joy. “God, you’re such a dork.” Her eyes were veritably sparkling as she looked up at him, grin once again in place. “Just for that, I’m gonna give you that permission I was talking about to just come hang out whenever you feel like it.”

“Yeah? Well, I might take you up on that soon,” he said with a nod and a smile. “I hope you have a good rest of your day. And, if you need anything—like help lifting a particularly heavy canvas or something...” He gave a little chuckle. “Just shoot me a text.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep you in mind.” She bit back a comment about if he needed anything— _anything_ —at all, that he knew where to find her. But she did lean up and kiss him on the cheek. “Text me when you get home?”

The peck was sweet, and it honestly made his ears burn again. Okay, was he twelve? No! He was a grown-ass man, but...god, she made him feel soft.

“Will do.” He lingered for just another moment before giving her hand a squeeze and turning to go down the stairs. He looked back at her about halfway down. “Have a good night, Mina,” he said with a little wave.

“See you, Eddie,” she replied with a wave back, smiling as she watched him leave.

 _“Well, that was, something, wasn’t it?”_ Venom hummed as Eddie crossed the sidewalk and mounted his motorcycle.

Eddie looked up towards Mina’s floor, a little smile on his face. _Yeah... I guess it was._

Mina stood on the landing for a long minute after he left, trying and failing to get the goofy smile off her face, when she heard a voice below her say, “God, Mina, that was sappy, even for you.”

She leaned over the railing and looked down. “Fuck, Abbie, how long have you been there?”

“Long enough to get a cavity from listening to the two of you,” replied the voice from the girl’s doorway. “Seems plenty sweet for a reporter.”

Mina rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. “What’s that supposed to mean? And don’t you have homework to do?”

“Aw, but it’s so much more fun bugging you!” Mina could practically hear her grinning. “Bye, Mina,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“Bye, Abbie,” she replied in the same voice, though a bit more dryly, then went into her apartment, closed the door, and leaned back against it. Her goofy smile was back, and she let out a giggle that would’ve put even the most coy of schoolgirls to shame. She pushed her hands up into her hair and let out a sigh. “Finally.”

She straightened up after another moment and looked at her dogs. “No, I didn’t forget about you. C’mon,” she said, and gestured for them to come over.

They scrambled over to her, resisting the urge to jump up on her as she picked up their leashes. “Outside, then we’re gonna call Lucy, and then mom gets to paint again, ladies!” She wondered if she’d ever been quite so excited to see her uncovered right hand in her life as when that cast had come off.

Getting her cast off got her thinking, as she saw to her dogs and called to tell Lucy what had finally happened, about how different things would’ve been if she and Eddie had never met up again after they’d first met. Or rather, how little things would’ve changed in her life. If he’d never called, if they’d never gone out... Sure, it wasn’t like her life had been upended or anything, but...it certainly would’ve been just as quiet and, honestly, just as lonely as it had been before they’d met. And she couldn’t help but think what a shame that all would’ve been—first encounter and all.

Thank god neither of them had to find out how much their lives would’ve stayed the same if their paths had never crossed.

The drive home was quiet. Unusual.

Eddie did all of the driving. That part wasn’t entirely unusual, but Venom did enjoy driving the bike and would sometimes have them go the long way, or go and get them lost for a while. That evening, though, Venom just let Eddie drive them straight home.

Eddie fished out the key as they climbed the steps up to their door, wondering what had got Venom’s tongue. Where was the teasing? The jealousy? Well, he didn’t miss the jealousy, if he were perfectly honest.

He put the key in the lock and turned it, only to get it stuck. “God, fuck this door,” he muttered, struggling with the key. He managed to get it turned all the way, but then he couldn’t get the handle to turn properly. To put it bluntly, the door was totally fucked, and Eddie had meant on several occasions to talk to the landlord about letting him replace the knob.

 _“Let us.”_ Venom slinked along Eddie’s hand and helped him wrench the handle. They often helped Eddie with the door, thank god, or they might never have been able to get into their own home.

Once inside, Eddie thanked Venom and closed the door. “Lunch?”

_“Why haven’t you asked?”_

“Do you want me to?” Eddie replied as he opened the freezer door. He hovered for a moment before dragging the tater tots from the back of the freezer.

_“I don’t know.”_

Eddie smiled. Now it was Venom who was uncertain and awkward and uncomfortable; how the tables turned. “I liked it.”

_“I know.”_

“ _You_ might like it.”

_“Not with her.”_

“No, of course not,” he said with only a slight eye-roll. “You kissed me once, remember.”

_“That was different.”_

“Not really.” Eddie chuckled and pulled out their cookie sheet to dump the tater tots on. He had gotten into the habit of wrapping aluminum foil over the pan, since he always forgot to spray it with non-stick spray. "And how do you _know_ you wouldn't like it with her?" he asked with a little smirk. "You're gonna knock it before you've tried it?" Even Venom's pettiness couldn't quite dampen his good mood, nor chase away the image of the adorable look of surprise on Mina's face after he'd kissed her... God, she was cute.

Venom gave a grumble. _"She is different."_

“Yeah, good different. Now c’mon, let’s watch some _Criminal Minds_ , drink some juice—you like juice—, and we’ll let the tater tots cook.” He put them into the oven before going and sitting heavily on the sofa, and booting up Netflix. “And, maybe when you stop being a pouty little pissant, I’ll kiss you, too.” He swallowed a little thickly at that, but put his boots up on the coffee table and kept his gaze steady and even on the television as their “continue watching” list appeared on-screen.

Venom was silent for a long few seconds, then Eddie felt him poking up from his shoulder. _"Can we put chocolate syrup on the tater tots this time?"_

The way they asked it was...almost sweet; it made Eddie chuckle again despite the lump in his throat. "Sure, buddy."

Chocolate on tater tots—it wasn’t something that Eddie ever thought that he would like, but it wasn’t...awful. He always added a little salt to them before or after, because it added some more umph to the whole strange concoction.

When Eddie returned to the couch after their food was cooked and satisfactorily doctored, he sat down with a little grunt. “Alright, we got our show, we got our juice, and our tots.” He set the plate down on the coffee table and hit play on the latest episode.

 _"And we've got us,"_ Venom said, hovering over closer to the plate of fresh tater tots.

Eddie, suddenly deciding that today was a day to be bold—eh, you only live once, right?—reached down and gently brushed against Venom’s… Would one consider it a cheek? Yeah, he supposed.

He gently brushed his fingers against Venom’s cheek, and the shifting inky black brushed against his fingers. It nearly seeped into the flesh, clinging to it, and Venom turned their gaze away from the food. Their iridescent eyes were large and focused, their teeth nearly but not entirely covered in what Eddie called “Venom’s not-smile”.

“Yeah, we got us,” Eddie repeated, voice low, eyelids heavy.

Venom’s eyes narrowed a little, then widened. _Oh._ Their teeth slowly grew more exposed as his grin returned. _“Us.”_ He slid his tongue against Eddie’s lips before pressing closer.

It wasn’t like their other kiss. Venom had no...well, lips. Ever. And he had more mobility when encompassing a human host, but this was different. All tongue and teeth, and the gentlest of nose-boops.

In spite of all that, it was a kiss nonetheless. Eddie knew it was because his stomach did the floppy-flippy thing it did whenever he kissed someone.

And Venom could sense that; Eddie was having the same reaction as when the Mina woman kissed him. Interesting. Good interesting.

They shifted back, then forward again to nuzzle Eddie's cheek, his scruff bristling against Venom's inky skin. Venom couldn't quite place the sensation they were feeling—they could, once again, only draw from Eddie's experiences—, but they briefly felt that emotion Eddie had named "jealousy" ebbing away. Even if it didn't entirely disappear...it felt nice.

Eddie smiled, wiping his lips—now very pink—clean. Kissing Venom was definitely wet. Even so, that wasn’t too bad. It would take some getting used to, of course, but…

“Now let’s have some tots.” He grinned and popped the first one into his mouth.

Venom grinned back, almost smiling wider than they ever had before. _"Yes, let's."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fully expect Leia to be screaming at this chapter because they've waited SO LONG and so have all of you!! thank you again to all our returning readers and commenters, and to all the new people giving this story a chance~ we love you!
> 
> also, yes, the chapter title is a reference to one of the songs that Leia picked for this story's mix, and it's PERFECT, so I had to reference it.


	14. All Work and No Play...

A few days later, Eddie was finishing up some work when he decided he wanted to see Mina again. It was more earnest than the last time the thought had so coherently occurred to him; he genuinely missed her, and sort of liked that he did. Texts were all well and good, but...it wasn't quite the same as spending face-to-face time with her.

And she  _ had _ just given him permission to hang out with her at her place whenever he felt like it... So he decided to take a shot and see if she was home.

He stopped his motorcycle along the curb outside her building, then looked up towards her floor for a moment. No big deal if she wasn't home, right? He didn't have to say right off where he was, if that was the case... It was fine. He was just stopping by, like she'd said he could. It was fine.

He turned his phone over in his hand a few times, then took a deep breath before unlocking it and calling her.

Mina stood from the stool she'd been sitting on and reached for her phone on the counter. She glimpsed the name on the screen as she answered, and it was obvious she was smiling when she said, "Hey there, handsome."

“Hey, beautiful.” He couldn’t help his own smile at the compliment. “It’s been a bit—” Long enough, he supposed. “—and I thought, maybe I’d stop by. Take you up on your offer to visit. See how your unbroken arm is treatin’ you.” 

She smiled wider. God, that was cute. He was cute. She couldn't stop thinking it about him. She loved that he was taking her up on that offer already. And she supposed it  _ had _ been a long few days... "I'd love that. Where are you now?"

“Uh, well...” He had parked his bike and taken the chance to go inside as someone else was going out. “I am currently walking up your steps,” he said as he climbed the staircase. A moment later, he continued in a smaller voice, “And now I’m standing outside your door.” He tapped his knuckles against the door. 

She blinked and hurried across the room to answer the knock. "You're adorable, oh my god." Then she stopped herself as she reached for the handle, as if re-noticing the smears of paint all over her hands. And face. And smock. And everywhere.

She hadn't hung up yet, and said into the phone, "Okay, one thing, Eddie. I've been working pretty much non-stop for the past two days, so I'm... Well, I'm in my work clothes, you might say. And I'll let you in, if you promise not to laugh at how I look."

“I’m not going to laugh at you. I mean...is it bad?” Did she suddenly look like a goblin or something? Well, some women did, but it was kind of endearing. Hell, at least they looked cute when they were all goblin-like. Unlike men, who were just...garbage. Men were garbage.

“Depends on your definition of bad,” she replied.

He chuckled. “Mina, I promise I won’t laugh.” 

She narrowed her eyes at the closed door, then said after a second, “Okay, I trust you."

She hung up, then turned the handle to open the door and let him take her in. Her hair was pinned back out of her makeup-free face, and she wore a paint-covered smock over paint-stained loose jeans and a black cropped T-shirt. There was an almost challenging look on her face; she was daring him to laugh at the strip of blue going down her nose, or the wide streak of gold on her forehead, or any of the stripes on her cheeks, neck, and even collarbone. And if her face was messy, her hands and forearms were even more-so.

He hung up his phone, and grinned—toothy and wide—when he looked at her. She was a mess.

“You look good,” he said with a nod. 

She raised a brow, but the challenging look faded as she chuckled. "You're so full of it," she said, and moved closer to give him a kiss. The kiss was a gentle peck—casual, new, and careful with that newness. "Not that that's a bad thing."

He stepped in behind her, closing the door behind them both. “Nah, I mean it. You look good.”

She grinned as she walked over to the sink to attempt to wash her hands of some of the paint. "Thanks. I'm glad you think so, because you're finally seeing me in my truest, most natural state of being."

“Oh yeah? Well, you’ve seen that with me.” He chuckled. He didn’t see himself as very three-dimensional, if he were being perfectly honest with himself. His wardrobe and general look consisted of about four different outfits, after all, and that was during a good week. 

"Oh, well, then we're finally even," she said, still grinning. She leaned back against the counter, drying her hands on a paper towel and giving a nod towards her easel. "You wanna take a peek? It’s just a warmup piece before I get back to work on my commissions.”

"Sure." He nodded. "Sure, yeah." He sounded mildly enthused. "This one of your wall pieces?" 

“Yeah, one I update every now and then.” She smiled fondly to herself. “Call it an old habit I haven’t broken yet.”

She followed him over to the easel, looking over the canvas. “It’s sort of my own version of Van Gogh’s  _ Sunflowers _ . It was my mom’s favorite piece of his, and sort of has the same coloring as her aura had, so it always makes me think of her. Lots of golds and yellows...” She chuckled once. She’d always compared her to those portraits of Catholic saints with the golden halos around their heads. Even when she was sad, the blues were pastel and bright, as if they couldn’t even try to overtake the gold. “She was an art history major, but sometimes she liked to be simple and predictable. And she loved whenever I’d try to recreate this one. So, whenever I’ve been away from my work for a while for whatever reason, I always like to come back to it and paint it again.” She added quietly, more fondly, “Always the sunflowers.”

The colors she’d used were vibrant—more-so than Van Gogh ever could have hoped for, he thought.

"That's really cool," he said with a nod, examining the canvas with genuine focus and admiration. "I mean, I bet she would like it."

“Thank you,” she said, fond smile still in place. “I like to think she would too.”

Eddie gave her a sidelong glance, but didn't ask. It wasn't his place, after all, even if he was curious. "You're really talented, Mina. Any parent would be proud." Any normal parent, around or not, at any rate.

“Thanks,” she said again, a little quieter this time. She could feel a lump forming in her throat and tried to swallow it away. She didn’t feel like bringing the mood down with talk about how much she wished her mom were still around, so she cleared her throat and asked, “So what’ve you been up to?”

He took the hint of her change in subject, and cleared his throat as well before he replied. "I've been mostly working. Have two pieces coming out later this week.”

“Oh? I’ll keep an eye out for those,” she said with a little nod, that fond smile returning as the lump in her throat started to dissolve.

He nodded back. “Yeah, one on corruption, the other on the homelessness issue. I'm going to keep squawking about that till someone listens. So...at least for the next, oh...fifty years. Forty, if I'm not so lucky." He chuckled, scratching his cheek awkwardly. 

She chuckled back, but it had that same fondness again. “You’ll wear ‘em down, Eddie. Or we’ll fall into dystopia and the poor will eat the rich, whichever comes first.” Given humanity’s track record thus far, it wouldn’t surprise her if the latter happened before the former.

"That's one way to cut back on a man-made problem known as world hunger,” he said with another chuckle, and moved to sit on the arm of the sofa. He could still see the painting from there, and found his gaze lingering on it again. It really was beautiful. 

“The only tried and true solution,” she replied with a grin.

As if on cue, her stomach let loose a low growl. She couldn’t even be embarrassed about it; it was kind of impressive. “Oh, naturally, talk of cannibalism gets you riled up,” she said as she looked down at herself.

Finally, maybe she and Venom had something in common. Besides liking Eddie, that is.

Eddie chuckled, brows raised and eyes wide. "Well, damn. When's the last time you ate? Because that's a call for food, if I've ever heard one."

Mina thought about it, lips pressed together. Her brow furrowed the longer the silence stretched on. “Uh...yesterday? Morning? I think?” That she  _ did _ feel a little embarrassed about. She couldn’t even properly remember? Damn.

" _ What? _ " His voice cracked at how high-pitched it got, and he slapped his hands against his knees. "What the hell?" he wheezed, and looked at her, dumbfounded. "Nope." He stood and spun her around. "We're going to eat. Right now."

“Right now?” she asked, blinking in surprise. “But, Eddie, my art!” She said it over-dramatically, mostly in hopes that he couldn’t hear the noises coming from her stomach again. Traitor. 

"Yes, right now. Your art can wait." He pushed her towards the door. "But your stomach cannot. You need food. Even garbage food." 

“Well, you know I can’t say no to garbage food,” she replied, trying to keep her smile under control. His concern was, well, touching. And she was also trying not to laugh at how quickly the two of them had gone from “hey, we can go get some food if you want” to “no, we’re going to get you food right this second”. She kind of loved it.

She grabbed a jacket, shoes, and her purse before he could herd her completely out of the apartment. “I’m at a point where I’ll eat anything you put in front of me,” she said. “So where to, sir?”

_ “Funny. I highly doubt that,” _ Venom purred, thinking of all the different sorts of things they could put in front of her to eat that she would surely reject.

Eddie ignored Venom and asked, "What are you feeling like? Want something with a little culture, or wanna go classic American junk?"

“God, classic American junk sounds amazing right now,” she admitted, then grinned up at him. “We can save the culture for another time. Wanna go to Mac’s?” 

"Sounds good to me." The last thing they grabbed was her helmet before heading down to the street. "I could go for some junk food right about now, too." He grinned. 

She grinned back. “Now, be entirely honest, Eddie: have you said ‘no’ to junk food at any time recently?” She’d known him barely two months, and most of what she’d seen him eat could be classified as junk food. Not that she was judging him, but the guy clearly knew what he liked and stuck to it. 

"Uh..." He pursed his lips and shook his head as he climbed onto his motorcycle. "No, not a once." He grinned wider.

Her grin widened, paint-covered nose scrunching at the corners. "Well, believe me..." She leaned closer to kiss him on the cheek. "...I will be the last person to deny you junk food." She put her helmet on and climbed on behind him, big grin still on her face.

It wasn't far to the restaurant, and, when they arrived, he put the kickstand down and let her climb off before he followed after her. "Alright, food time."

"I'm so ready," she said, taking her helmet off and leading the way inside. She was going to inhale a whole burger and possibly a milkshake and feel no shame about it.

Mac was behind the register when they entered, and he gave a sigh at Mina's appearance. "You forget to eat again, kiddo?"

Mina pressed her lips together and gave him a look. "Listen, Mac, I know you know me pretty well, but, damn..."

"Yes, she did. Could we get our usual orders? Maybe an extra order of fries?" Eddie said from behind her, grinning.

Mac chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, pick any booth, you two." He shook his head and headed back to the kitchen, mumbling something about “crazy kids”.

"Oh, rat me out, why don't you?" she said to Eddie, but she was smiling as she slid into the booth they'd shared before. "Though you're a dream compared to Lucy. She once tried to physically pick me up and carry me out of the apartment to get me food. Needless to say, that didn't go so well."

"Oh, god," he chuckled as he slid into the seat across from her. "She's smaller than you are!" He could actually picture the struggle of that little lesbian trying to pick her sister up. 

"Right?! She ended up knocking us both onto the floor, if I remember correctly. I bumped my head pretty hard, so my memory's a little fuzzy," she joked, then pointed at him. "Now, if she ever enlists  _ your _ help in that specific endeavor, she might finally get her way."

"She would absolutely get her way, because I would one-hundred percent help her," Eddie replied seriously, even as he grinned at her again.

She couldn't help but grin back as she tried not to laugh, even though she knew he meant it. "Oh, you'd betray me to help my sister?" She pretended to think about that, then grinned wider. "That's fair. I'm not to be trusted with myself sometimes. If it takes a whole team to get me out of the house and get some food, then so be it."

"Well, at least you could see reason beforehand  _ and _ in hindsight." He chuckled as a waitress brought over their drinks and milkshakes. 

She laughed softly as she scooted her milkshake closer to her and slid one of the straws over to Eddie. "That's true. And then I suppose I can't hold it against you," she teased.

She had to admit, it was nice having someone else be even slightly concerned for her wellbeing besides Lucy. Sure, Bev and Laurie counted, but Lucy was on another level. And Jonathan's brand of worrying didn't exactly make her feel like it was for her benefit all the time, so...it was nice.

“Thank god,” he said with a crooked smile as he stirred his shake a little, then took a slurp. "Y’know, I've had a lot of shakes in my day, but nothing beats Mac's."

"Same here, oh my god." She gave a feigned suspicious look to the man currently buzzing around the kitchen. His head was just visible through the window and past the plates of food waiting to be delivered to tables. "Sometimes, I wonder about what goes on in there..."

Eddie let out an amused puff. "Why?" he asked glancing over with a smile. "Think he laces his food with crack or something?" 

Her eyes narrowed a little. "Well...maybe not that  _ exactly _ , but...something. Something he's not telling us." She looked back at Eddie. "Hell, even if I knew, I probably wouldn't stop eating here. It's too good. Besides which, when am I ever gonna find another proprietor who puts up with a regular customer like me?"

"Please—you're a piece of cake. I'm the one who practically eats him out of business twice a month,” he said. 

“Yeah, and he loves you,” she replied. “The man is clearly gifted at putting up with messes like us.” She was again reminded of the infamous five-milkshake post-breakup crying spree. If Mac hadn’t been done with her after that, she figured he never would be. 

“Maybe I’m just lovable,” he replied before drinking more of his chocolate milkshake. Of course, he knew that he wasn’t. It was a joke.

To drown that thought out, he sucked down so much milkshake that he had to press a thumb to his temple. “Uh, god... Brain-freeze.”

Mina couldn't help but laugh at him, resisting the impulse to raise her hand up over her mouth. "You're definitely lovable, Eddie." She didn't know it was a joke, of course; either that, or she refused to believe it was a wholehearted one. Either way, she meant her response. If he didn’t believe it, then that just meant she’d get to tell him more often until he  _ did _ believe it.

Then a voice spoke from behind Eddie, and her smile almost immediately fell. "Well, Mina, fancy seeing you here."

Her eyes rolled up to look at the man approaching—tall, lanky, dark hair, brown eyes, a little bit of scruff. He was smiling, but there was something almost smarmy about it.

She didn't say anything at first, just raised a brow at him. It was a joke, and a bad one. As was his usual—that much she'd found out about him almost immediately when they’d first met.

"You fall into your work again?"

"What do you want, Derek?" she asked with a sigh, leaning back in her seat.

He chuckled now, expression virtually unchanged. "Even with all the paint and even with that mouth, you're still a sight for sore eyes."

"I'd rather not be one for your eyes, if it's all the same to you."

He gave a brief, shifting glance towards Eddie—barely an acknowledgment that he was even there—, then shook his head a little. "I see you haven't changed. How unfortunate for you."

She held his gaze, fingers tapping softly on the table a couple times. "And I'd tell you to bite my ass, but then that would remind you that all you ever got to do was grab mine. How unfortunate for you."

Something that sounded like a loud, singular laugh suddenly burst into Eddie's head, and he tried not to jump at the noise. Venom quickly tried to collect themselves. No, that was  _ not _ a laugh directed at Mina, and it  _ certainly _ wasn't one that  _ hadn't _ been at her expense. That would be ridiculous! Mina wasn’t funny, or worthy of their laughter!

...However,  _ it _ was funny.

Derek straightened up a little at her remark, smirk finally starting to fall. "Guess you can't blame a guy for trying. Even if you're still the same old bitch, Mina."

Before Derek could completely move away, and before Eddie could even get a word out in her defense, Mina's right hand shot up and grabbed Derek by the collar, yanking him down so his face was closer to hers.  
She'd surprised him, but he still managed out a muttered, "What the hell, Mina?" He didn't want to draw the attention of the other patrons, didn't want them to see a teeny woman like herself holding him in place with one hand. How unfortunate for him.

"No, you see, I  _ can _ blame you for trying. For two reasons," she said, not looking at him, then took a drink of her milkshake. "One, you've ignored every other blatant 'no' I've given you for the last year whenever you've tried to pull this shit in public, because that is what people like you do. Second, and not that this any of your business, but you waltzed in here and decided to ignore the fact that I am here with someone—someone I'm currently seeing. Not only rude, but selfish and annoying. So I can very much blame you for pulling this  _ again _ , Derek. It comes very easily to me." Only then did she look at him.

He could barely meet her gaze, and she still had a vice-like grip on him. Finally, he chose to look over at Eddie. "You gonna let your woman talk to me like this?"

Mina was still looking at Derek, but she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Of course he'd only acknowledge and try to bring Eddie into this  _ now _ . Coward.

Eddie had been sitting silently in the booth, eyes wide, but when Derek turned to him, he leaned back. He hooked his elbow over the back of the booth and shrugged. “She doesn’t need my help to kick your ass,” he said—and he thoroughly believed that. 

"He's a smart man, as you can see," Mina said, giving a proud smirk. She knew she liked Eddie for good reason. "Now, before I let you go on your merry way, I just have one more bit of information I feel you should know." Her gaze shifted to her hand still holding his shirtfront as he dared look at her again. "You see this hand here? Up until a few days ago, it was stuck in a cast for quite some time. Since I got it off, I've just been itching to make good use of it again." She jerked him forward another inch. "Don't give me a goddamn excuse."

With that, she gave him a solid push up and away from her. He just narrowly missed stumbling back into the barstools at the near-empty counter, and she allowed herself a little grin as he tried to collect himself.

He straightened his jacket, gave both her and Eddie a glare, then scoffed as he started to move away towards the far side of the diner. As he did, Mina very clearly heard him mutter a curse several degrees worse than "bitch".

Calmly, cooly, even with the hairs on the back of her neck still standing on end, she said, "Hey, Derek." Without looking over her shoulder, she raised her arm to rest her elbow on the back of the booth, middle finger pointed toward the ceiling. "My hand can do this again, too. And my ears still work just fine."

Her grin widened when she heard his shuffling footsteps pick up speed, and he nearly dove into a chair out of her sight.

Then she gave a quiet sigh as she lowered her arm and looked at Eddie again. "Sorry about that," she said, proud glint still in her eyes. "He's never been very good at taking hints."

Eddie was still glaring in the man’s general direction. What an asshole! If Mina hadn’t seemed so done with it, he might have gotten up and punched him in the throat. He didn’t care that he was half a head shorter than him; he’d still do it. Hell, he’d pick Mina up and let her punch him. Either way, the guy deserved a punch in the throat.

He let out a puff and looked back at her. “What a dick.” 

"Got that right. I made out with him at a party once over a year ago, and he still thinks he can pull this crap." She took another long drink of her milkshake. "Almost a million people in this city, and I still can't shake my exes."

“You only made out with him? Damn. He acts like you gave him the greatest sex of his life. Even then, he shouldn’t be an ass about it.” He rolled his eyes.

Okay, more often than not, weak guys like that typically became needy and wanted to know why it didn’t work out. The other kind of guy became assholes. Eddie didn’t get it. Sure, he was a touch bitter that he wasn’t getting any after years of being with someone and having a consistent sex life. But he wasn’t going to be a dick about it. If he got really desperate, he could go to a strip club and then go home and jerk off. Okay, well... That wasn’t likely. He didn’t really...do that with Venom around. Okay, maybe once. But, even then, it had felt awkward. 

“Right?!” she replied, eyes wide. “I mean, I know I’m a good kisser, but damn.” She would’ve said he needed to get laid, but the guy was clearly hung up on not getting to sleep with  _ her _ specifically—and, oh, how entitled he’d felt to it that night they’d met. Guys like that were so often not worth her time. So she stuck her tongue down his throat. It didn’t mean she suddenly wanted to marry the guy.

She’d always been pretty self-sufficient in-between relationships, especially in more recent years when unattached hookups every now and then had become a norm for her. Even then, she and the other person at least talked and made sure they were on good, compatible terms before they did anything.

Getting drunk at a party and making out with strangers, on the other hand... Well, she’d been doing her best to do less of that now that she was in her 30s. Not because she was ashamed, per se, but more because she tended to have bad taste in who she ended up making out with. Derek was pretty much case in point, and she didn’t need that nonsense in her life. Her own clingy tendencies popping up every now and then were bad enough.

“Being an ass is something he’s proven to be very good at, and I’m not really about that.” College-Mina might’ve been interested. But now? Nah.

"We all have our bad tastes from time to time. But, yeah, he’s not worth your time. And if he gives you anymore trouble, I'm going to deck him." He angrily slurped at his shake.

She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. She had to admit, the image of Eddie knocking the guy flat on his back was just perfect. “He’s not worth the potential hurt to your hands. Besides, you won’t get the chance if I beat you to it,” she said with a smirk.

When their food arrived, it filled up their table—as usual. It was warm and steaming and smelled delicious. Venom purred inside of Eddie’s head, and Eddie’s stomach growled. 

“Now, you eat,” he said pointedly to Mina. He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t been eating. Of course, she didn’t have an alien parasite living inside her that would eat her internal organs if she didn’t consume enough food, so he supposed there was that. Over the last several months, he’d gotten to the point where he couldn’t even  _ imagine _ not eating. 

"I'm goin', I'm goin'," she said, chuckling as she sized up her burger to decide which angle was best to attack it from. She more than appreciated his outright concern for her major character flaw of forgetting to eat when she got into a good flow with her work. It was harder to brush off than Lucy's or Jonathan's concern, and therefore almost necessary. She needed the reminders regardless of who they were from or what form they took, but when they were coming from someone she'd only known for a couple months, and he was already steering her out of her apartment and not taking no for an answer? She'd been sorely missing things like that. But then when was the last time she'd been dating someone and seen this much of them, or  _ wanted _ to see this much of them?

"You were smart to get me far and away from the easel, Eddie. One less distraction, this way."

Eddie chewed his bite of food, cheeks puffed out ever so slightly before responding. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, I understand the whole over-working-distraction thing so..." 

She nodded and swallowed a bite of her own burger before she replied, "Thank god. Then you can't really blame me, but you can also hold me to a better standard than you held yourself." She gave a little shrug. "Win-win."

He was all for working and getting the job done—hell, even getting it done well—, but there had to be a limit. 

She was a little shorter on conversation while they ate, nearly inhaling her burger in record time. It was in those moments that she realized all over again how important feeding herself was...only to forget it in a week's time all over again. At least Eddie had seen her eat enough times that she didn't feel at all self-conscious about eating so quickly. Not that he seemed like the type to judge her for that sort of thing, given how she'd seen him eat, but...

She was working on the last dregs of her milkshake, burger and fries long gone, and he was finishing up his third burger when she said, "I'm really glad you stopped by today." She nodded to the plates between them, smiling. "Not just because of this, but... It just makes me happy that you did.”

His chewing slowed a moment, and he made a small sound before finishing up his bite and swallowing thickly. Ah, that instant heartburn that radiated down one’s spine—oddly enough—when swallowing food too soon. 

“Yeah, of course. Well, I mean, you had said...and I thought, well...” He offered an awkward smile. “I wanted to see you.”

She tried not to beam at that, but wasn’t totally successful. It was just such a...novel thing for her to hear lately. Her cheeks were pink when she replied, “I wanted to see you too. Maybe you’re tuned into my wavelength or something.”

"Wavelengths?" Well, he supposed that wasn't actually the hokiest thing in the world. After all, it was sort of science... Everything was made up of wavelengths in one form or another. Maybe they shared a frequency. The idea made him smile. "Maybe."

She chuckled and smiled a little wider. “Yeah. I mean, stranger things have happened.” And had happened within the time they’d met, and probably would happen again. At least, that was how it tended to go, in her experience.

When they finished eating and headed back to Mina’s apartment to drop her off, she stopped at her door and said, “Hey, do you wanna do another movie night soon? Theater, my place, both—I don’t care which.” She almost felt weird watching things alone now. Was she getting comfortable in this almost-routine of theirs already? She could hardly blame herself, if she was. 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll, uh, I’ll see what’s playing,” he said with a smile. “And we can plan from there.” He liked when they did both—go out to the theater, stuff oneself with candy and popcorn, go have dinner, go back to her place, eat more food, and watch movies until they passed out. It was a nice change from his solo acts. Well. Not  _ solo _ , but it was a little different with Venom. 

_ “Different how?” _ he asked. 

_ Just different, buddy. Not in a bad way. Just...different, that’s all. _

She smiled wider, corners of her nose scrunching. “Sounds great. You know where I’ll be in the meantime,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “Working and not eating, apparently.”

"No, I’m gonna be calling you to be sure you eat. You hear me?" He chuckled. Hell, he would even order in for her, if he had to.

She laughed. “Oh, if you must,” she said, feigning exhaustion. She resisted saying that she was glad this meant he’d be calling her more than he already was—even if that was true—, and gave his hand a squeeze before intertwining their fingers and leaning up to kiss him. He’d more or less been calling the shots on anything physical between them (understandably), but she couldn’t resist kissing him just a little harder and a little longer than she had the last time. She hadn’t lied all those weeks ago when she’d said she was a patient woman—she absolutely was—, but she was just...happy. And couldn’t wholly resist the longer kiss.

The kiss was welcome—a pleasant surprise, even, despite the bristling at the back of his neck—, and returned the it as his eyes gently closed. It was nice to kiss someone goodbye; he’d been missing even that.

When they leaned apart, she held back from biting her lip as she smiled. Instead, she said, “See you soon, Eddie. And text me when you get home safe?” 

"Of course I will," he said with his own smile, a little crooked, lips a little pink. "Good luck with the painting."

“Thank you.” She gave his hand another squeeze, gave him one more peck on the lips before she decided she was ready to let him leave. Or, at least, as ready as she wanted to be.

And she realized shortly after he started back down the stairs, when she was trying to scrub the paint off her face, that she might just be getting hooked on him. She wondered if she should feel guilty about that at all, but thinking back on the time they’d just spent together all on its own, she had a feeling that it was at least fairly mutual. So back to guilt-free it was.

And why should she feel guilty anyway? After all, it was a nice feeling—having someone around who wanted to see her, that she wanted to see just as much, and that they both seemed to just click with and enjoy... It was something she hadn’t had in a very long time. So, she figured she might as well enjoy it. 

“ _ Is it  _ really _ necessary to keep doing that?” _ Venom asked, exasperated. 

"Hey, you know what it's like from  _ personal _ -personal experience, not just  _ my _ personal experience," Eddie murmured as they hit the pavement. He glanced back at Mina's building fondly.

Venom just grumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for your patience! over the last four months, we've trekked across the country to save a friend, moved out on our own, and seriously started planning our wedding! so much is happening!
> 
> we're starting to settle in, so I should be able to update again sooner than the last hiatus. we're still so glad you all are enjoying this story so much; it and your patience and support means so much. thank you!


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